Before October 2010, Haiti had no documented cases of cholera. Since then, the country of 10 million hasn’t passed a day without it. While easily treatable, cholera has been responsible for the deaths of thousands, and Haiti and international health organizations are fighting it with few and shrinking resources. During Haiti’s rainy seasons, what would…
(Oz Journal – co-written with Stacey McMahan) There is a reason why Pétionville is the center of the recovery effort in Haiti. Its perch in the hills above Port-au-Prince offers relative isolation from the metropolis, in addition to the mind-boggling panoramic views of the basin and bay from which that city has grown – qualities…
“So, for starters–what is architecture?” Garrett Jacobs wastes no time getting to the big Q’s. A circle of 20 teens have (willingly) gathered in the belly of a 21st Century museum to learn about the profession. In the middle of the Contemporary Jewish Museum lies a multipurpose youth room with an orange floor (“the only…
(AFH Chapter Quarterly) What lies at the heart of a humanitarian design network?
I had the great fortune to tag along with architect and former Architecture for Humanity design fellow (and PID essay coauthor) Stacey McMahan on a week-long return to Haiti. I’d been following the progress of this country since just before the 2010 earthquake, through the work of Architecture for Humanity and Engineers Without Borders (before…
Charrettes can be intimidating. Often in these intensive, user-focused design workshops, facilitators are working with a community they are not themselves a part of. The facilitators are chiefly concerned about participation and buy-in, and whether outcome-focused exercises will sink in with those unfamiliar with the design process. We all want charrettes to be successful, to empower…
(Students Rebuild) Remember that time when Haiti was simultaneously an exotic gem and a disaster quagmire? For months after their terrible 2010 earthquake, the whole world was captivated by a bizarre, overlooked culture, and seduced by the promise to rebuild the country as a flagship of sustainable, holistic reform of an impoverished nation. Re-watching this Newshour/NPR…
If it seems like an impossible endeavor to flip a global substandard housing crisis, you haven’t been keeping up with the Karachi Chapter of Architecture for Humanity. The Chapter rocketed into action in 2010, responding to the Indus River floods that inundated 1/5 of the country and displaced 20 million Pakistanis – 11% of the…
(Students Rebuild) Public schools in urban California and rural North Carolina are breaking through customary walls to pursue dynamic learning environments and impact their communities. Of course – design plays a part. Around the nation a debate rages on how to educate children. On one end, there is a push to bring all students up simultaneously,…
(Students Rebuild) ALL EIGHT of the Millennium Development Goals simultaneously crossed a milestone earlier this year – “1000 Days Left.” Or maybe it’s more of a warning sign. Since the Year 2000 (and those heady days of roboboogie), 189+ nation states have been working to eradicate extreme poverty around the world, prompted by the United Nations.…
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