ARCHITECTURE FOR THE POOR

Cameron Sinclair responds to the problems of poverty and housing in

the 21
st
century through his organization Architecture for Humanity
Strip away all the ego in architecture and all the design theory the
hype and the hot !aga"ine articles all we do is pro#ide shelter$ I%
you can&t do that you can&t call yoursel% an architect$'
This is how Ca!eron Sinclair descri(es the core o% his pro%ession
so!ething which !ost architects or architecture students o%ten
%orget$ )hile !ost o% the! are trained to thin* o% architecture in the
!easure o% aesthetics Ca!eron had a di%%erent agenda$ He had
always (een interested in socially responsi(le design and how you
can !a*e an i!pact' in the co!!unity$ Turning his (ac* %ro! ser#ing
the o%ten spoiled proletariat society Ca!eron proclai!ed hi!sel% as
the (lac* sheep o% architecture (y concentrating !ore on low+cost
design solutions %or the !arginali"ed$ ,esign li*e you gi#e a da!n'
-also the title o% his (oo*. see!s to (e the !antra that he personally
li#es (y and which helps hi! direct the charita(le organi"ation na!ed
Architecture %or Hu!anity$
The beginning
He co+%ounded the organi"ation on /000 together with 1ew 2or*er
3ate Storer with only 455 dollars in their poc*et$ 6ut this did not deter
the! %ro! ha#ing the (ig #ision$ The goal o% AFH is to pro#ide
architectural solutions to glo(al social and hu!anitarian crises$ Such
an a!(itious underta*ing when you thin* that al!ost one (illion souls
around the world today li#e in slu!s and !ore are predicted (y the
U1 to %all into the sa!e predica!ent in the ne7t 85 years$ At the
prestigious Ted Con%erence last year where he ga#e a tal* Ca!eron
said the %uture is not going to (e the s*yscraping cities o% 1ew 2or*
(ut this' pointing to a picture o% a (lea* landscape %ull o% slu!s$ 6ut
AFH has well+thought out plan to pull (ac* snooty nose o% architecture
(ac* to the ground and %ace up to one o% 9/
st
century challenges$
Ca!eron said where resources and e7pertise are scarce inno#ati#e
sustaina(le and colla(orati#e can !a*e a (ig di%%erence in people&s
li#es$' Instead o% o%%ering a one+design utopic solution the answer
relies on the co!!unity$ There is no such thing as utopia$ All
pro(le!s are local$ All solutions are local' he added$
Since its inception AFH has engaged architects and designers all o#er
the world to get in#ol#ed in hu!anitarian wor* so!eti!es (y hosting
design co!petitions$ At one point a design pro:ect has attracted as
!uch as 955 entries$ In an inter#iew with ,esign 6oo! Ca!eron said
he was stunned to %ind out that there are thousands o% designers
around the world who wanted to #olunteer their ser#ices and respond
to hu!anitarian crisis only that they didn&t ha#e the plat%or! to do
that until AFH ca!e into the picture$ To show their co!!it!ent to
social cause e#ery designer who #olunteer %or AFH wor* on a pro+
(ono (asis only recei#ing a stipend %or li#ing costs and hard costs li*e
!aterial and tra#el e7penses %ro! AFH
To date AFH has spearheaded pro:ects %or the returning re%ugees in
3oso#o tsuna!i and Hurricane 3atrina #icti!s and e#en %or
So!*hele South A%rica an area with the highest rates o% Aids+HI; in
the world$ )e rely on a #ast range o% donors %ro! s!all co!panies
indi#iduals and e#en school children selling hot chocolate -they were
one o% our largest %undraisers in 955<.$'
Humanitarian rockstar and his open architecture network
I% Ca!eron cannot ta*e the crown o% a roc*star designer he atleast
can *eep the title o% a roc*star hu!anitarian$ He has already (een
(estowed awards on his head and AFH has e#en won last year&s
O(ser#er ethical awards 955=$ He howe#er see!s to dis!iss all this
attention$ I donate all !y spea*ing honorariu!s and any !oney
gi#en %ro! pri"es' he said$ In year 955< Sinclair only earned /9555
dollars$ That&s certainly a pay cut co!pared to what other designers
recei#e$
)hat Ca!eron really needs is help$ He said at one point he recei#ed
a lot o% e!ails %ro! people o%%ering their ser#ices and it had (een
di%%icult to !anage$ This %orced hi! and his organi"ation to e!(race
an open source networ* where designers will (e a(le to start their
own local chapter and get in#ol#ed with local pro(le!s$ So!e(ody
who is (ased in >ississippi *nows !ore a(out >ississipi than I do$'
The open architecture networ* will allow designers to post their
pro:ects (rowse the pro:ects o% others e7change and colla(orate with
each other$ AFH de%ines the !ission o% this networ* si!ply to
generate design opportunities that will i!pro#e li#ing standards %or
all$'
For a !an whose a!(ition is to change the world 8/+year old
Ca!eron certainly has a way o% doing things$ Pro:ect locations are not
re#ealed to protect the! %ro! !edia&s propensity %or e77ageration?
AFH doesn&t sign its na!e on its pro:ects? designs are licensed under
Creati#e Co!!ons co!pletely %ree and can (e used (y other 1@Os$
Still the dri#ing %orce o% Sinclair is design$ He said in the Christian
Science !onitor inter#iew Adesign with pride not pity$A 6eauty and
aesthetics are i!portant no !atter how hu!(le the pro:ect he
pointed out$ A)hat good design does is inspire people$ And the people
who need the !ost inspiration are those that ha#e lost the !ost$A
Architects can play two roles in society either create (uildings that
a%%ect a co!!unity %or the (etter or %or the worse$ @i#en the choice I
thin* as an industry we stri#e to i!pro#e li%e whether it (e a single
%a!ily or an entire #illage$ Sadly the design !edia tends to %ocus itBs
attention on the do"en or so CstararchitectsB and in doing so
strengthening the general pu(lics #iew that design is only %or the
whi!s o% the rich$'
httpDEEo(ser#er$guardian$co$u*Eethicalawards
httpDEEwww$design(oo!$co!EengEinter#iewEsinclair$ht!l
httpDEEarchitecture%orhu!anity$orgEa(outEa(outus$ht!l
httpDEEarchitecture%orhu!anity$orgEEa(outEA(outFAFH$pd%
httpDEEted(log$typepad$co!Eted(logE955=E54Etedpri"eFwinnerF/$ht!l
httpDEEwww$cs!onitor$co!E955=E5998Ep/Gs59+lihc$ht!l
httpDEEwww$unha(itat$orgEcontent$aspHcidI855JKcatidI<KtypeidI=K
su(>enuIdI5