Shortly after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, we heard about Shigeru Ban’s plan to build a multi-storey temporary housing in Onagawa. Completed nearly 9 months later in November 2011, the complex was deemed a success, with claims like “residents are so satisfied with their interim accommodations that they have [...]
The world’s largest architectural award just got bigger. The Aga Kahn Foundation has announced a doubling of its prize to US$ 1 million. Given every three years in reward for projects that address the needs of Islamic societies and use local resources and appropriate technology in innovative ways, the prize was doubled to enable winners [...]
We came across this article in the Solutions Journal on the role and responsibility of architects in disaster risk management written by several experts in the field, including two of last year’s visiting professors: architects Marie Aquilino and Sergio Palleroni. In the article, the authors explain the complexities of disaster reconstruction, cite real-life examples, and [...]
Announced just last week, the winners of the 2012 Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction are a secondary school project in Gando, Burkina Faso, a community center project in São Paulo, Brazil, and an urban renewal plan in Berlin, Germany, selected from more than 6,000 entries in 146 countries. First prize went to the school in [...]
Sergio Palleroni was practicing socially conscious architecture long before it became mainstream in recent years, but in case you aren’t familiar with his work, here is a recent article in Architectural Record highlighting his mission and some of his latest projects. We are proud to have had Sergio as a visiting professor at last year’s [...]
This Thursday and Friday on the 29 and 30th of March, a wide range of experts on affordable housing in developing countries will be coming together to talk in Mumbai at Homegrown Cities – Local Construction Practices in Urban India – A Conference on Affordable Housing, organized by the Sir JJ School of Architecture and [...]
Architecture for Humanity has released an update on our recently completed design studio collaboration and on-site workshop near Petropolis, Brazil to create a public community and sports facility for this area heavily destroyed by last year’s floods: “As part of larger reconstruction efforts, Architecture for Humanity and the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC) in Barcelona [...]
In a recent report from UN-Habitat, the organization announced that it is expanding its ties with the academic world in the area of urban risk reduction and rehabilitation so that a new generation of graduates undertaking field work in disaster zones around the world are better groomed in integrated urban crisis-based practice. “We are now [...]
Our students Ella Chau, Wan-Ting Chiang, John Holm, and Tommaso Sacconi are currently in Nagaoka, Japan for their internship with architect and earthquake disaster prevention expert Norio Maki, guest professor of the course who participated in our Rebuilding Japan conference back in December. Make sure to follow their updates here on the student blog and [...]
Make sure to check out the new issue of Architectural Record magazine, specifically focused on Building for Social Change and including pro-bono collaborations, public interest design and humanitarian projects in both developed and developing contexts around the world. In addition to project examples, the issue also features interviews with young architects who have made a [...]
