2012 Year in Review: Building Change From The Ground Up
We celebrate today* by taking stock of another incredible year of building change around the world. This is the 14th edition of this letter and returning readers will know - grab a mug of tea, a few left over snacks and settle in for our year in review.
This year our teams of design and construction professionals completed 42 projects in 27 countries with many more in development. This included opening a dozen schools throughout Latin America with students engaged at each step of the way; a skatepark in New York City and 11 more youth sports facilities around the globe. We mapped 11 uncharted regions door to door across Haiti; helped businesses rebuild in Japan; created and trained thousands of construction jobs. We published Design Like You Give A Damn [2], a compendium of the best community design projects around the world, and challenged the design community to turn decommissioned military sites into places of peace and prosperity. Nearly 200 teams from 40 countries responded to the call.
Renewal and resiliency became rallying cries for communities affected by disasters this year. From fishing villages in northern Japan to the superstorm that ravaged the Eastern seaboard, our building professionals have not been satisfied with returning these destroyed communities to "what was" but instead are designing and building for the future, working with an incredible network to rebuild more resilient places.
This is what we see. We hope you share our vision of stronger, vibrant communities and support our ongoing work.
The simple truth is we cannot do all this work without you. Help us reach these goals and beyond by making a small donation to enable us to continue to build change and transform communities.
Cheers,
from all of us at Architecture for Humanity
Bogota // Cape Town // Ishinomaki // Port-au-Prince // San Francisco // Seaside Heights
2012 by the Numbers
2,742,000 People who now live, work, learn, gather and heal in 2,300 places helped by Architecture for Humanity since 1999
1,596,188 People who have benefited from 128 completed projects on Worldchanging
288,000 Children now in day and after school programs in facilities built by us
135,400 Children with access to sports for social change programs through Nike Gamechangersand FIFA/Streetfootballworld's Football for Hope program [11 more projects underway in 9 countries]
44,451 Cups of coffee drunk by our staff in Cape Town, Port au Prince, San Francisco, Ishinomaki, Bogota and Seaside Heights (NJ)
38,003 Members on Worldchanging (formerly the Open Architecture Network)
17,681 Haitians who in 2012 benefitted from design, construction and economic development work at the Rebuilding Center
9,630 Beneficiaries to date of the Tohoku Rebuilding Program
9,195 Members of the Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network
174 Teams from 40 countries that submitted proposals for our 4th international design competition, [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS, transforming military sites to civilian spaces.
100 (or 25%) Increased enrollment at Haiti's Montrouis school due to its new building
74 Sketches from 60 world-renown architects and designers donated to last Spring's I Love Architecture campaign
55 Local Chapters in 14 countries
42 Projects completed in 2012
39 Grant proposals submitted by teenagers to green their schools
15 Fishermen we helped in Shizugawa through PACT campaign
10 Mariachis that helped close out the Arquine talk in Mexico City
5 Grant-winning cities to develop architect-focused disaster response plans
133 Volunteers at our five international offices
69 Design Fellows and Architects in communities all over the world in 2012
27 Full-time staff members
1,596,188 People who have benefited from 128 completed projects on Worldchanging
288,000 Children now in day and after school programs in facilities built by us
135,400 Children with access to sports for social change programs through Nike Gamechangersand FIFA/Streetfootballworld's Football for Hope program [11 more projects underway in 9 countries]
44,451 Cups of coffee drunk by our staff in Cape Town, Port au Prince, San Francisco, Ishinomaki, Bogota and Seaside Heights (NJ)
38,003 Members on Worldchanging (formerly the Open Architecture Network)
17,681 Haitians who in 2012 benefitted from design, construction and economic development work at the Rebuilding Center
9,630 Beneficiaries to date of the Tohoku Rebuilding Program
9,195 Members of the Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network
174 Teams from 40 countries that submitted proposals for our 4th international design competition, [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS, transforming military sites to civilian spaces.
100 (or 25%) Increased enrollment at Haiti's Montrouis school due to its new building
74 Sketches from 60 world-renown architects and designers donated to last Spring's I Love Architecture campaign
55 Local Chapters in 14 countries
42 Projects completed in 2012
39 Grant proposals submitted by teenagers to green their schools
15 Fishermen we helped in Shizugawa through PACT campaign
10 Mariachis that helped close out the Arquine talk in Mexico City
5 Grant-winning cities to develop architect-focused disaster response plans
133 Volunteers at our five international offices
69 Design Fellows and Architects in communities all over the world in 2012
27 Full-time staff members
What Clients Have Said
"Architecture for Humanity came into our lives when we were almost becoming quite vulnerable. Given the multiplicity of issues that are found in slum communities, we needed a center that has a clinic, a library, and a cyber cafe, and, luckily, here we are." - Lucy Mathai, SIDAREC Executive Director, Nairobi, Kenya
"The students had been stressed out since the disaster. I'm very glad that students can play soccer at this field now, and my heart's too full for words." - Ryuichi Onodera, Ohya Green Sports Park client and Founder of Junior Sports Club
"Amidst all our students, some may become lawyers, others become doctors or architects that help this country, and the first step is this school." - Wilson D'Or, Headmaster, Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger
Selected Chapter Projects From 2012
 | Under the BQE - Brooklyn, New York, United States Client: Neighborhoods of Brooklyn Design Team: New York City Chapter Program Coordinator: Frederika Zipp Vision document released April 2012 | |
 | Veneer House - Utatsu of Minamisanriku, Miyagi, Japan Client: Heisei no mori temporary housing complex Design Team: NPO Gyoryu-no-yu (Hiroto Kobayashi and Applied Environmental Design Studio, Keio University) Completed June 2012 | |
 | Shift House - Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States Client: City of Sioux Falls Community Development Office; Affordable Housing Solutions Design Team: Architecture Incorporated Completed July 2012 | |
 | Brixton Remakery - Brixton, London, United Kingdom Client: Brixton Remakery Design Team: London Chapter Program Coordinator: Frederika Zipp In Progress | |
 | OASIS bus shelter project - Atlanta, Georgia, United States Client: MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), Atlantan communities Design Team: Courtnie Kidd, Valene Greene, Chandra Farley, Sarah Hill, Andrew Telker Program Coordinator: Frederika Zipp Prototyping | |
 | Adobe Structure 1 for Afghan refugees - Bardsir, Iran Client: Afghan refugee familes Design Team: Rai Studio Program Lead: Pouya Khazaeli Prototype completed November 2012 |
Selected Projects From 2012
 | Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger – Montrouis, Ouest, Haiti Client: Bon Berger School, the Stiller Foundation, Students Rebuild Design Team: The Haiti Rebuilding Center Program Manager: Eric Cesal & Sandhya Naidu Janardhan Completed February 2012 | |
 | Oguaa Football for Hope Center – Cape Coast, Ghana Client: PlaySoccer Ghana, streetfootballworld Design Team: Joe Addo & David Pound Program Manager: Gretchen Mokry Opened April 2012 | |
 | Manhattan Bridge Skatepark – Lower East Side, New York City, United States Client: Steve Rodriguez Design Team: Steve Rodriguez, Jens Holm, Kay D. Vorderwuelbecke and Preeti Sodhi Program Manager: Alix Ogilvie Opened June 2012 | |
 | Sauti Kuu Banda & Community Center – Alego, Kenya Client: Auma Obama and Sauti Kuu Foundation Design Team: ION Designs & Diego Collazos Program Manager: T. Luke Young Opened June 2012 | |
 | Games In Lost Heavens - Gan Hai Zi Village, Yunnan, China Client: Habitat for Humanity China Design Team: Habitat for Humanity, China Program Manager: Habitat for Humanity, China Completed July 2012 | |
 | Haiti Mapping Initiative – 11 communes, HaitiClient: Kellogg Foundation, Commune office Project Coordinator: Olivia Stinson Program Managers: Eric Cesal & Sandhya Naidu Janardhan Completed August 2012 | |
 | 16 de Septiembre School - Coscomatepec, Veraceruz, MexicoDesign: Instituto de Espacios Educativo del Estado de Veracruz Program Managers: Diego Collazos & T. Luke Young Opened September 2012 | |
 | Civic Art in Schools – 9 sites, Haiti Client: 9 schools Designers: Project Coordinator: Jean Rene Lafontant Program Manager: Kate Evarts Round 1 completed September 2012 | |
 | Tohoku Business Lounge – Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan Client: Entrepreneurs of Ishinomaki; Prudential of Japan Design Team: Shogo Marukawa Program Manager: Hiromi Tabei Opened November 2012 | |
 | Villa Rosa and Saint Marie Community Action Plan – Port-au-Prince, Haiti Client: Komite Humanitaire de Villa Rosa / Foyer de Saint Marie Project Manager: Nancy Doran Completed December 2012 | |
 | Architecture for Humanity Office, 695 Minna St. – SOMA, San Francisco, United States Client: Architecture for Humanity Project Manager: Michael Steiner Doors opened December 21 2012. | |
 | Kitakami "We Are One" Market & Youth Center – Kitakami, Miyagi, Japan Client: Kitakami "We Are One" Committee Project Manager: Hiromi Tabei Opened December 2012. |
Events
 | Design Like You Give A Damn LIVE! 3 – San Francisco, United States Client: Enthusiastic members of the international design community Design Team: Sarah Brady Held November 12-13, 2012. |
Competitions
 | 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS – Worldwide Client: Communities around the world affected by decommissioning military bases Design Teams: 174 teams from 40 countries Winners announced August, 2012. | |
 | Guerrilla Green Sustainable Showdown - United States Client: Students of United States public schools Design Team: Gina Fontes & Garrett Jacobs Program Manager: Gretchen Mokry In progress. Launched October 2012, Enter by Feb 1 2013. |
How We Work
