It’s time for the third monthly confessions of a design geek #designbookclub, and we’re really starting to get into the swing of it. So far, we’ve read Eden by Tim Smit (you can read the full transcript here) and The Craftsman by Richard Sennett (you can read the transcript here). This month we’re reading Design Like You Give A Damn by Architecture for Humanity’s Cameron Sinclair.
It’s a book that really made me think about what I’m doing with my life, about what’s important, about what’s possible when you really put your heart and soul into something. Architecture for Humanity was founded in 1999 by freelance journalist and documentary maker Kate Stohr and architect Cameron Sinclair to “seek architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and bring design services to communities in need,” initially in response to the conflict in Kosovo. When a call came in from the UN in the wake of 9/11 before the organisation had built a single structure, it quickly became clear there was a need for what they were proposing.
Cameron talks about the time when he first started to voice concerns about whether architects had an obligation to respond to some of the social concerns raised in the areas they worked. “During informal discussions about the role of the architect I found myself a lone voice,” he says. But he wasn’t to be dissuaded. Despite an initial lack of support, countless red tape, and hurdle after hurdle, the story of Architecture for Humanity is one of a humble yet dogged approach to problem solving for the greater good. More than 220 design teams from 30 countries responded to their first competition to design temporary housing for refugees returning to destroyed homes in Kosovo, and Cameron “realised that I wasn’t the only disillusioned CAD monkey and that architects and designers really did want to make a difference.” Although their first project was thwarted by politics and bureaucracy, it started something incredible. Architecture for Humanity chapters started popping up all over the world – by 2004 hundreds of people were meeting up once a month in bars or restaurants to discuss how they could use their skills to give back to the community. “Often we would only find out about the activities of a group when a local representative contacted us,” says Cameron. “People would randomly show up at our office and start working.” At this point there were active groups in 30 US cities, as well as Sydney, London, Dublin and Genoa. (The San Francisco HQ founded by Cameron and Kate has since closed, but many of the satellite offices remain active.)
The book includes almost 100 projects that “seek architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and bring design services to communities in need,” some of which Architecture for Humanity initiated or collaborated on, and some of which the organisation found out about retrospectively. “We’ve demonstrated that for every ‘celebrity architect’ there are hundreds of designers around the world, working under the ideal that it is not just how we build but what we build that truly matters,” says Cameron. A truly inspiring book, compiled by a truly inspiring man.
Join us on twitter via the hashtag #designbookclub at 9pm on Thursday 03 March to discuss this book – and make a note of the next two book clubs too: we’ll be discussing Design for the Real World by Victor Papanekz* at 9pm GMT (4pm EST) on Thursday 07 April and Adrian Forty’s Objects of Desire at 9pm GMT (4pm EST) on Thursday 05 May. Looking forward to seeing you there! (*NB This is a change from the previous advertised The Art of Looking Sideways, due to some very valid feedback from members about the size and cost of the books I was suggesting! The next two books are both available in paperback and second hand – and please feel free to nominate books via twitter or in the comments section below.)
