Sustainable Design Redefined
Social and Environmental Responsibility in Sustainable Architecture
Sustainable design practice is being challenged and transformed by the work of Architecture for Humanity (AFH), a charitable organization founded in 1999 by TED winner and architect Cameron Sinclair and partner Kate Stohr. AFH operates in areas affected by natural and manmade disasters.
Sinclair is the executive director of AFH and a tireless advocate for environmentally and socially responsible design. AFH’s book, Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, illustrates innovative approaches to the provision of basic shelter and community services.
Sustainable Design and Cultural Context
At AFH, sustainable design begins with recognizing local talent and conditions. Parachuting in Western designers and technologists to build western prototypes in foreign cultures can result in insensitive and expensive design solutions. One of the hallmarks of sustainable design is its thoughtful response to the local context.
Working with Sri Lankan villages rebuilding after the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004, AFH engaged local villagers in the community’s redevelopment. At community meetings residents of all ages participated, providing invaluable information and claiming ownership for the new buildings. When everyone has a voice, the design process is enriched.
Holistic Approach to Rebuilding After Disasters
No building can pretend to be entirely benign. Sustainable design accepts even the greenest of architecture has an impact on the environment, from creating a waste stream to influencing how harmoniously people live together in communities. AFH encourages its designers to adopt a more holistic approach to community development, whether it’s in remote African villages or in urban favelas.
That holistic approach in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana has included consulting with former residents about their shelter needs, designing homes that can be erected by jobless survivors and their families, and creating designs that can be adapted for future growth. This is an approach that goes beyond providing shelter and is life changing for participants. Oprah's Angel Network has recognized AFH's approach and is a supporter of the rebuilding process.
To support a broader understanding of the complex needs of survivors, AFH includes social scientists, engineers and different kinds of designers on its teams. It holds international design competitions that attract innovative, comprehensive solutions to the problems posed by reconstruction after major disasters. Sinclair claims the ultimate results transcend mere structure, becoming shelters for the soul.
Green Technologies Are an Integral Part of Sustainable Design
AFH projects introduce green technologies that can be easily reproduced. Design Like You Give a Damn features the PlayPump, designed by Trevor Field and Ronnie Stuiver for villages in South Africa. It uses the energy of children playing on a round-about to pump water from wells. Sinclair never fails to show audiences the VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit) latrine, designed by Arup Associates for the Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India. The VIP uses a waterless system in this isolated area of the Tibetan Plateau. Arup is working with local groups to replicate the design throughout the region.
Referring to these sustainable designs, Sinclair says, “You do one thing in a rural village in the middle of nowhere and within 2 to 3 months, every village in the entire province knows about it. Everyone wants to replicate the new technology. We don’t have to build 500 community centres, we just need to build a model and teach people how to replicate it.”
Architecture was never meant to be a jewel-making profession according to Sinclair. Using the values of sustainability and respect for diversity, AFH is demonstrating how to design sustainably on small budgets and create big results.
