Humanitarian Architect Believes Sustainability a Necessity

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: Cameron Sinclair, cofounder and executive director of California-based Architecture for Humanity and author of Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, addressed a gathering of approximately 40 architects and students September 25 at Ashoka Headquarters in Arlington, Va. Sinclair shared his recent humanitarian design experiences working on sustainable renewal projects in the Mississippi Gulf Coast, post-tsunami India and Sri Lanka, war-torn and earthquake-impacted countries, and poverty-stricken worldwide villages.

A self-described “black sheep” in the field of architecture, Sinclair emphasized the opportunity for sustainability practices in reconstruction projects for displaced populations affected by natural disaster, poverty, and refugee flight, stressing that sustainability is not a luxury but a worldwide necessity. He supported that argument by pointing out:

• A billion people live in poverty worldwide today
• Four billion live in fragile but growing economies
• More than three billion people do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation
• One in seven live in a slum, and by 2030 it will be one in three.

“These are groups that can benefit from sustainability,” Sinclair urged the attendees. “The push for oil will not be high on the agenda; it will be for water and housing.”

Sinclair detailed his sustainable building projects in the Gulf Coast, including the Biloxi Model Home Program to help families repair and rebuild homes. He also described his projects in areas of the world suffering from poverty, earthquakes, and war. These included: mobile HIV/AIDS clinics in Africa; shelters for people affected by the Asian tsunami in India and Sri Lanka; bridges in China; refugee camps in Iran; temporary housing in Chile; earthquake-resistant housing and refugee camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan; schools in India; and community centers in Senegal, India, and Brazil.

“Designers are not recovery experts,” he acknowledged, stressing that it is more important for architects to take a community-involvement approach to reconstruction by learning as much as they can about the local culture, especially in a foreign land. His presentation underscored that “architects should design with the community and not for it,” adding that involving an entire foreign village in the design and building process is paramount to community ownership and the local economy. “We must help arm communities with expertise, technology, and social capital,” Sinclair encouraged the attendees.

What to do?
Sinclair recommends that the first thing architects do when in a foreign village is to identify the community leaders. Then, work with them to:

• Address politics and policy
• Set up planning and financing needed to build
• Define processes and goals
• Design
• Implement
• Celebrate.

Sinclair stressed that architects must “design with pride, not pity.” His wish is to improve the living standards of five million people: “We have two options—architecture or revolution. The difference is revolution can be avoided.”

Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, honors the achievements of humanitarian architects and designers who, as Sinclair says, “do not get the media coverage.” He noted that book proceeds support projects to assist local communities worldwide. The book details more than 80 worldwide projects that address urgent needs, such as basic shelter and access to clean water, energy, and sanitation.