One week after winning a prestigious design award, Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr have left Architecture for Humanity, the humanitarian design organisation they founded in 1999 and that currently counts 59 chapters in 16 countries.
Sinclair and Stohr are recipients of the Curry Stone Design Prize‘s new Vision Award, which recognises leaders who have inspired other social design practitioners. There are probably no two better initial winners since Architecture for Humanity has radically transformed the way architects and designers provide aid to disaster-stricken communities around the world.
“It’s great to see something you started evolve into an institution,”said Stohr in a statement last month. “We are excited about the future of the organisation and plan to continue lending support in whatever ways we can.”
Architecture for Humanity’s chapters have completed more than 200 projects, from large-scale responses to disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haitian earthquake, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; to smaller educational, residential and cultural projects around the world. Football for Hope, for example, is a collaboration with FIFA and streetfootballworld that uses the development of soccer fields to help communities achieve the United Nations Millennium Development goals.
After being awarded the 2006 TED Prize, Sinclair and Stohr launched the Open Architecture Network, a way for designers to share projects and best practices for improving living conditions worldwide. Currently, the organisation is headed to the Philippines to aid victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
Sinclair and Stohr have enabled a global community of designers to work together on social design projects, but perhaps their greatest legacy is Architecture for Humanity’s commitment to working with local architects to find ways to build more sustainably using available resources. Not only are these structures transforming lives in the short-term, but Architecture for Humanity’s focus on teaching design and construction skills has created a lasting economic impact long after the initial projects are over.
Here are just a few of Architecture for Humanity’s completed projects throughout the years.
Opening day at the Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger (“Good Shepherd School”) in Montrouis, Haiti.
The Homeless World Cup Legacy Center in Santa Cruz, Brazil, includes a public football pitch and a community center focused on youth and women’s empowerment.
A prefabricated classroom designed by Architecture for Humanity’s Dhaka Chapter for the Jaago Foundation, which provides free education to street kids in Karail, Bangladesh.
The Kimisagara Football For Hope Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, provides playing fields, health education resources, and employment skills workshops for area youth.
Architecture for Humanity helped revamp a neglected skatepark under the Manhattan Bridge. The park has new ramps and additional playgrounds.
Top image: The Mahiga High School Rainwater Court in Nyeri, Kenya, is a full-size basketball court covered by a guttered metal roof that collects 40,000 litres of rainwater per year. All images and captions courtesy Architecture for Humanity viaCurry Stone Design Prize./em>