Humanitarian Design

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Photo © David Wakely Photography One of HOK’s many pro bono projects was an office for the Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit based in San Francisco. The 1% program of Public Architecture now counts over 1,000 firms among its ranks. Although dominated by architecture firms, the program welcomes design practices of all types to pledge a minimum of one percent of their billable hours to pro bono services. Public Architecture now estimates that program’s firm pledges constitute on the order of $38 million in donated services annually. For information: www.theonepercent.org Perkins+Will Social Responsibility Initiative, launched in 2008, is a firm-wide service

Photo ' Matt Flynn / Smithsonian Institution The Design Other 90 Network is a membership and project database maintained by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. It stems from two major exhibitions organized by the institution. Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) is a national membership organization with several local chapters, which, since 1981, has sought to link design with environmental protection, ecological building, peace, and social justice causes. Its flagship program is New Village Press, the first book and media publisher dedicated to community design and development. For information: www.adpsr.org The Association for Community Design is membership-based network of independent and

Photo courtesy Studio 804 Studio 804, a design-build program in the architecture school at the University of Kansas, has completed a number of impressive projects, including the 5.4.7 Arts Center in Greensburg, Kansas. BaSiC Initiative is a collaboration of faculty and students from Portland State University and the University of Texas at Austin, which deploys students to work on community-based projects around the world. For information: www.basicinitiative.org The Building Project at Yale University, now in its fifth decade, partners first-year graduate students with nonprofit housing organizations, including Common Ground and Habitat for Humanity. For information: www.architecture.yale.edu/ The Carl Small Town

Photo courtesy Hsieh Ying-Chun, Rural Architecture Studio and Atelier 3 Taiwanese architect Hsieh Ying-Chun won the 2011 Curry Stone Design Prize. The Berkeley Prize, now in its fourteenth year, is a multipart design and writing competition focused on the social art of architecture. The Berkeley Prize is open to undergraduate students worldwide, though it’s focused largely on architecture students. Multiple awards are given, with the annual purse totaling $12,500. Deadline for submissions is each fall. For information: www.berkeleyprize.org The Core77 Design Awards program, now in its second year, has several “progressive project” categories, including “service” and “social impact”; pro bono

Photo courtesy Design Corps The Public Interest Design Institute is a two-day training program coordinated by Design Corps. A recent session at Yale drew speakers such as Anna Heringer and Michael Murphy. The ACD National Conference is held annually by the Associaton for Community Design. The next conference will take place June 7-10, 2012, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Theme and registration details have yet to be announced. For information: www.communitydesign.org/events The Design Access Summit is a new convention being launched by Public Architecture, aimed at design, government, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders. It seeks to highlight the role that design

Photo © Iwan Baan The Global Health Corps offers fellowships for designers to work in Rwanda with MASS Design Group, on projects like its Butaro Hospital and evolving master plan (pictured). AmeriCorps, including its VISTA component, is America’s domestic service program that deploys college graduates to fight poverty in low-income communities. The AmeriCorps website sometimes promotes opportunities specifically for architects and designers, with “architectural planning” as an advanced search option. AmeriCorps members receive a modest living allowance, prorated for location (averaging approximately $15,000 annually), plus health insurance, and some programs provide housing assistance. AmeriCorps members who complete one term of

Photo © Alexander Severin/Razummedia 'We maximized the use of cost-neutral elements'light, form, color, and proportion'to make every dollar count,' says WASA/Studio A senior partner Jack Esterson about the 30,000-square-foot facility for men struggling with substance abuse. On the first two floors, which house support services such as counseling, vocational training, and medical care, a frosted-glass facade lets in daylight but preserves privacy. The top three floors of bedrooms establish a hierarchy of progression for clients'if they stick to the treatment, they move from shared rooms on lower floors to private rooms on upper floors with better views. Residents maintain a

Image courtesy Michael Maltzan Architecture Michael Maltzan Architecture's third project for the Skid Row Housing Trust will connect to its urban context in a variety of ways. For example, the now-under-construction 95,000-square-foot building will incorporate an existing one-story structure slated to house shops and support services for both residents and the larger community. Above this podium, prefabricated apartments will be stacked to define recreational spaces and courtyards, making it the first modularly constructed, multiunit residential building in Los Angeles. ARCHITECT: Michael Maltzan Architecture BUDGET: $19.3 million CONTEXT: When completed in 2013, Star will add 102 apartments to the approximately 1,300