Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, recently announced Siyathemba, an international design competition to develop a football (soccer) facility for young girls in Somkhele, South Africa. Siyathemba is the Zulu word for hope. The registration deadline is September 15, and designs are due October 15.

Participants are asked to employ sustainable and/or local building materials using local labor. The facility is to include a youth-sized field, sideline benches, and a small changing room. The entire facility should be built for $5,000. The entry fee for the competition is $20 ($30 for late registration). Fees will be waived for entries from developing countries and communities in need.

In mid-October, a team of designers, landscape architects, and medical and sports professionals will select three finalists and up to 12 honorable mentions. Members of the Somkhele girls football team will choose the winning design from the three finalists. With funds raised from the competition entry fee, donations, and a grant from the Red Rubber Ball Foundation, the winning concept will be built in 2005. It is hoped that the Somkhele girls football team will kick off its first match at the new pitch by fall 2005.

Confirmed jury members include Paola Antonelli, Museum of Modern Art (New York City) design curator; Yves Behar, award-winning industrial designer; Ethan Zohn, former pro-soccer player and winner of Survivor Africa; Kevin Carroll, Nike catalyst (the company’s job description for an inspirational and organizational leader).

The winning design will be announced on World AIDS Day (December 1) at an exhibition in New York City. All finalists and a number of honorable mentions will also be featured in the March/April 2005 issue of I.D. (International Design) magazine. In addition to displaying entries on its Web site, Architecture for Humanity will exhibit selected entries on a traveling exhibition starting in December 2004.

Using sports to build dreams
Architecture for Humanity reports that in many parts of Africa, sporting activities, especially soccer, are being incorporated into a variety of programs geared toward helping youth address a broad range of issues affecting their lives. By emphasizing a team approach, these programs help impart the skills needed by the next generation to overcome the many challenges faced by their countries, from poverty to HIV/AIDS, malnutrition to educational access.

Architecture for Humanity is challenging the creative world to design the facility in Somkhele, an area with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world. This facility, run by medical professionals from the Africa Center for Health and Population Studies, will serve as a gathering place for youth between the ages of 9 and 14 and as the home for the first-ever girls football league in the area. The new community resource will also act as a place to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and eventually as a service point for mobile health care.

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