SHELTER has a new home

SHELTER has a new home. We’ve moved the site over here: http://www.docucinema.com/shelter. Please go to that URL to see the new site.

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Your Opinion, Please

Got an opinion? Of course you do. How about your opinion on this: When the SHELTER movie is released we want to donate a portion of our distribution profits to a charitable organization or NGO. But which one? Take the poll below and see instantly how everyone else is voting.

SpotUS: The Homeless Triangle: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Prison

Spot.Us is a group that helps independent journalists raise money for investigative stories. Here’s one that caught my eye: A practicing internist physician named R. Jan Gurley wants to take a close look at what happens after a person leaves prison, say, after two years behind bars, with only 200 bucks in their pocket. Her idea is to investigate the notion of “homeless churn,” the unfortunate social phenomenon that might occur when people are released from prison without the social tools or resources to make it on the outside.

There are tens of thousands of prisoners released annually to the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Where do they end up, and how many of them end up back in prison? Ms. Gurley intends to find out. If you would like to help fund her effort to raise the $1200 needed to research and write the story, you can donate as little as $5 or as much as you want. You can also answer a survey at the Spot.Us site and provide credits toward the funding of her investigation.

R. Jan Gurley is a physician who sees patients in a homeless clinic for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Her writing has appeared in Slate, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sunday magazine and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Click here to follow Spot.Us on Twitter.

Click here to follow Docuguy on Twitter.

Wildfire Promotions is the latest SHELTER sponsor

Wildfire Promotions has jumped in to underwrite the cost of an online promotion for our SHELTER logo contest.  The contest is going on now with an active call for entries. If you’d like to enter – or know someone who would – the closing date for entries is October 1.

We’re looking for a logo for the SHELTER movie.  If yours wins, the grand prize is a $250 gift certificate from Blick Art Materials.  The logo will become part of the promotional materials for the movie, so it will be seen everywhere. The runner up logo designer will receive a $50 Starbucks gift card.

Thanks, Wildfire, for helping out!   If you want to enter the contest, click here for an entry form.  More information about the contest can be found here.

Current Projects at Architecture for Humanity

An update from Cameron Sinclair about Architecture for Humanity’s current projects. Although known for working on rebuilding Haiti and supporting reconstruction partners in Chile, Architecture for Humanity is working all over the world on design projects including sports centers in Africa.

Check out his blog post about it here.

Design For Good: The Controversy

Written by Lee Schneider, Director of SHELTER

The Haiti SOFTHOUSE is described by its creators as “a flexible and sustainable approach to shelter that provides immediate transitional housing.” It’s steel-framed housing with fabric on top. The SOFTHOUSEgroup, which is behind the project, reports that it’s currently working in conjunction with The Rural Haiti Project to deploy the project in Haiti. In other words, they are outsiders trying as best they can to work with locals to create a project that is relevant and which fills a need.

That’s not always so easy.

Bruce Nussbaum, a design commentator, recently asked in his blog if humanitarian design might be the new imperialism. It’s a good bomb-throwing concept that has people talking. Certainly, Nussbaum has shined a big flashlight on the problem of outsiders coming in with design solutions that locals don’t always want. Why don’t locals want these solutions? Well, they don’t always employ locals. They don’t always work well with local infrastructure. There’s a general grumbling to the effect that “what makes these outsiders believe they can just come in and solve our problems?”

It’s a question that sometimes comes up for Nathaniel Corum, a self-described nomadic architect who has just started working with Architecture for Humanity on Haiti reconstruction. Corum has recently worked on a Navajo reservation, where he designed and helped residents build solar-powered homes made from straw bales. To protest the wasteful use of plastic, he’s made a 130-day voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat called Plastiki. It was made from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles and he designed the cabin.

As quoted by the Times, he answered the charge of design imperialism like this:

“The richer the dialogue you have with the people you’re working with the better,” he said. “I spend lots of time with them, and learn so much, especially from people living close to the land. Humanitarian design isn’t the new imperialism, it’s the new compassion.”

Many would agree that compassion as a design concept is a good idea. But what about execution? Another story. Tell that to the people who are working – and failing – to get the One Laptop Per Child design into India. The mission is to put inexpensive laptop or notebook computers into the hands of children in developing countries. But it hasn’t worked in India – because the Indian educational establishment has blocked the one-laptop movement. They know there are problems with their schools, they say, but the problems are not technological. The system is dysfunctional for other reasons. So they don’t need a technological solution like a laptop.

Designing for good can start with good intentions – but for those who practice it, deploying good design in the field requires diplomacy and a truly personal sort of compassion.

You can follow me on Twitter here.

Haiti Rebuild: The Last Responders

Written by Cameron Sinclair, Co-founder of Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture Network

Live from Port au Prince

Tonight you’ll see every journalist report ‘live from Port-au-Prince’. They will review the devastation, highlight the heroes and question the rebuilding process, all in a six minute segment. Then we will be onto the oil spill, the terrorist attacks in Uganda, the last minute goal in the World Cup and other issues facing of the world. A number of reporters have been on the ground every day since the quake, they aren’t going anywhere. Truly dedicated individuals that continue to file reports, interview families and chase up government officials and aid agencies despite the appetite for this story growing weak. We will get a blip during the elections, especially if their is violence, but this may be it for major reporting. Remember Katrina? That was on US soil and how often we hear about that after the first year. Like Katrina, this is a five year process, one rife with hurdles and tough choices.

It’s time for the last responders
Six months ago this week I wrote an internal plan for long-term reconstruction for Haiti and, after some discussion, decided to make it public. Within days of posting it [on The Huffington Post] it was tweeted hundreds of times. This is the eighth time my organization has been a part of a post-disaster reconstruction program and, given that we had spent time in Haiti pre-quake, I felt it was important to set expectations. As we raised funds and began to initiate projects, I wanted donors, partners and community stakeholders to understand that we were not in for the “quick fix” or a “number of people served” response, we’re in for the long term.  We are the last responders.

In the plan I noted six months as the transition point from recovery to reconstruction. This is the time of the last responders, the motley crew of hundreds of building and water/sanitation professionals who work for years after the last major news outlet has left. As the thousands of NGOs will be whittled down to a few hundred, hopefully local groups, including social entrepreneurs, NGOs and small businesses, should feature as the predominant player in the reconstruction process. They don’t just need to, they have to. While the international community can add capacity and play an important support role to truly move out of the “aid culture” the ownership needs to be Haitian led. The fourth phase, economic development, will only work if the foundation of reconstruction is regionally based.

They were the first, they will also be the last
In the moments after the quake, long before the first convoy crossed the border of the Dominican Republic, the true first responders were the Haitian people. Those lucky enough to escape injury did not run to the hills, they ran to the screaming. They went into fallen structures and clawed out those trapped underneath the rubble, they consoled those who had lost their loved ones. Never, ever underestimate the resilience of a people struck by monumental disaster. The despair in their eyes was for the collective, not the individual.

As the world’s community responded, those affected were incredibly grateful. As shock gave way to need and need gave way to a a desire to return to normalcy, anger crept into the voices of those looking a way to get out of the tent cities. This anger is understandable. Imagine being a carpenter now living in a tent by the airport. Every day you sit with your family watching SUVs snarled in a traffic jam outside. Fumes from the idling cars fill the air. You keep hearing false expectations that everything will be back to normal in less than a year and all the solutions will be imported, from shipping container housing to modular solutions – no need for lots of carpenters or masons.

This carpenter is the key to rebuilding Haiti. We need to push, demand and fight to move into this last responder phase. One in which equal partnerships are formed with local architects, engineers and builders. One where we think pragmatically about what gets built, homes that are not only safe but support LOCAL jobs. We should be building vocational training facilities that utilize the reconstruction as a mechanism for sustainability. [in partnership with AIDG we assessed thousands of homes and trained hundreds of local masons] The underlying point here is jobs, jobs, jobs. Let’s put the work into working it out.

Next Generation Leadership
Beyond economic stability and safe housing, the most important structures that needs to be built are schools. This will be a sector that Architecture for Humanity, my organization, will focus on. I believe our greatest impact will come from building not only a school of the future but for the future of Haiti. Not only incorporating digital inclusion, off the grid technologies and new teaching methodologies but empowering and supporting existing vocations. Every school must be led by Haitian organizations and built in a sustainable manner (financially and architecturally). These schools are dawn to dusk buildings and will become centers in revitalized communities.

Over the last few months teams of probono designers on the ground have developed and revised prototypes and we’ve formed relationships with a number of existing schools and made dozens of site visits. However we may have funds available to build a few more of these community anchors. Primarily funded via Students Rebuild, a $500,000 match for schools that are fundraising for Haiti around the world, we’ve developed a Request for Proposal (rfp) process to ensure the building and rebuilding of Haitian led schools. (if you are looking to have your school funded, you can log onto our site. We have an open process)

No Ego, No Logo
One last point. In the last ten years we’ve never put our name on a building, we’ve never put one of our donors either. No, it’s not because we are cheap (fiscally responsible), it is much more important reason.

Working in community led reconstruction you rip away any local ownership by sticking a fancy logo on the building. As if you to say “This building is yours but just remember, we built it – and please remember it every day.” I know the reason why people do it but the community knows who donated it and the builders know who funded the building. If you’d like to donate, please don’t expect to see your name on the building. See your compassion in those who the building will serve.

To donate to Architecture for Humanity, click here.

Follow Cameron Sinclair on Twitter.

This article first appeared in The Huffington Post. Thank you to Architecture for Humanity for allowing us to share it on SHELTER.

Habitat for Humanity: A Community Model for Activism

Written by Lee Schneider, director of SHELTER

Imagine putting 500 hours of sweat equity into building a community of homes and not knowing which one will be yours. That’s the chance that Habitat for Humanity asks people to take, and if things in Pacoima are any indication, it’s a chance that pays off quite well.

Habitat is building a community of three- and four-bedroom homes in Pacoima, which is 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. A group of volunteers and future residents work on all the homes simultaneously, not knowing what home will be assigned to whom. When construction’s done and families are selected to move in, they pay less than a renter would, because they receive a Habitat for Humanity no-profit, no-interest loan. Their “down payment” was the 500 hours they devoted to building the homes together. Those are good figures for the working poor, but the community benefits are even more encouraging.

Jessica Woywode, a recent graduate with a master’s degree in urban planning who now works for Habitat as a Community Development and Planning Associate, was digging in the community garden onsite the day I visited. She has found that people who work together on gardens tend to get together on other things, like helping kids stay in school. “We’ve found that 100 percent of the kids who live in this community graduate from high school.” The rate for the Pacoima area generally is just a 43 percent graduation rate. “Ninety-two percent of our high school graduates go on to college. We have a zero-percent divorce rate, a zero-percent teenage pregnancy rate,” she said. “We believe that’s because of the Habitat program.”

The program involves creating an enriched neighborhood, according to Donna Deutchman, CEO of Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley. “You bring a family in and give them an opportunity to change their lives, and it’s them as the catalyst.” In this Habitat community, every family gets a free computer and reps from area colleges come in and teach the families how to do internet research. Fresh fruits and vegetables come from the community garden and the families get access to dental and health care.

“We give them access and they fly with it.” – Donna Deutchman

Middle and upper class families know all about that sort of access to services – they just call it “regular, everyday life.” But for the working poor who are raising children, such access can be elusive. But once access is grasped by a family and put into practice, says Deutchman, it can change how a family sees itself in the world.

On the day I visited the worksite, it was during a period of a few days when more than 500 women came together to frame out six new homes in Pacoima. The people carting lumber, drilling and hammering were executives, volunteers and future residents all working together. Among the workers was Rashi Kallur, an assistant VP and Community Relations Officer at Citi. After receiving a few hours’ training on a circular saw, she was doing an impressively efficient job for a first-timer. “It’s personally very rewarding,” she said. “When I actually put in my effort I understand what is behind construction and what does it take. It gives you more of an understanding and value, and you don’t take things for granted.” She got right back to work, transforming as I watched from a first-timer into a pro.

Citi is anything but a first-timer with Habitat. Rashi Kallur told me that Citi has done 30 builds with Habitat in the past five years or so, and they are a sponsor of the Pacoima build. So far, Habitat for Humanity has built a total of 61 homes in Pacoima; 37 of those homes are occupied and 24 more to be completed this year. That will put the San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys Habitat in a select club: They will have built 100 homes in their area, and worldwide only 5% of Habitat affiliates have achieved that milestone. The model for community construction, extended into community services, becomes community change.

“We are breaking down the stereotypes and breaking down the way the parents and children view society. Working side by side with presidents of companies, totally different backgrounds, all working on their house – it totally changes their perception of what the world is,” Jessica Woywode said.

Michelle Kaufmann: An Architect Driving Change

Written by Lee Schneider | Director of SHELTER

Michelle Kaufmann is a pioneer in the prefab housing movement. You might think that happened because she started a factory to manufacture architect-designed homes, or because she has showcased full-sized replicas of her homes in prominent museums like the National Building Museum in Washington, or the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Those are big achievements and do identify her as an innovator and a culture shaker. But, for me, what makes her a pioneer and a leader is something else.

She is making sustainability not only a way to build, but also a state of mind.

“It’s not just looking at using eco materials and choosing production and systems that are energy efficient and can save water,” she said in interview. “It really goes beyond that by thinking about outdoor spaces as much as indoor spaces. It’s thinking about what makes a sustainable community that goes beyond the materials themselves. It’s about shared resources.”

This is a holistic view of architecture and design, and it makes good sense. No building exists by itself – there’s a relationship to the people who use it, to the land it is placed on, to the resources it uses.

She has a project going in Denver called aria that illustrates this. The construction is prefab, which means that much of the construction is happening off-site, in a factory, where the homes are put together in a modular fashion, then brought onto the site and completed there.

Construction is more efficient and green this way. The homes themselves use recycled materials and alternative energy sources like solar. The community features roadbed made from recycled concrete and water-conserving native plants. The design also calls for a community pavilion in which residents can learn about organic cooking, using food grown from the on-site garden.

“We’re thinking about things in a more holistic way.”
-Michelle Kaufmann

Over the course of her career, Michelle has championed the use of recyclable materials in the 53 green homes she has built. She’s corrected some assumptions along the way, too, such as the belief that a house made of recyclables would have to be made of old tires or that it wouldn’t be possible to take a hot shower while living in one. The homes she designs not only look good, but they make us feel good.

Early prefab homes designed by Michelle and others were expensive and one of a kind, but they established a necessary proof of concept. They showed clients it was possible to build green and make it beautiful. Today, the Denver site represents the next generation of prefab, as it mixes affordable and market rate housing. It’s not meant to be “one of a kind,” but to show that a design can be replicated at other sites, making it more accessible. This can be a path to healthier buildings, a path to architecture that is part of an ecosystem and a path to change.

“Architects can drive change, but I think we have to rethink ourselves and our role as architects.”

While the world celebrates star architects like Frank Gehry, it’s been useful for me to remember that architecture is for the most part a conservative profession. Innovators like Michelle Kaufmann (and Gehry) are rare. Michelle told me during our interview that fewer than three percent of homes are actually designed by architects – most are done by builders, but builders are not trained to innovate,  instead simply to execute. But now we are at the start of a new chapter, one that features collaboration as a critical tool for success. Michelle cited the Open Architecture network as an example of this. It makes design open and free, and promotes designs that conserve both water and energy. It’s a part of the holistic view of architecture bringing us better homes and better communities.

“We are in a very interesting time. our values system is now shifting more towards community, but also community in our businesses. We’re collaborating, and that’s where real change is happening,” Michelle said.

To learn more about her latest projects, check out her website.

This interview was made possible with the generous participation of one of our valued sponsors, Zipcar.

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Architecture for Humanity – Earthquake Resistant Schools

The SHELTER blog has started a partnership with Architecture for Humanity.  We’ll have the opportunity to update you on the great work AFH is doing here and abroad.  Look for Q&A’s with project managers, notes about design contests and news from AFH.  Here’s an article to start us off. You can find the original post by Karl Johnson at the Architecture for Humanity website.

Members of Architecture for Humanity found themselves in the East Bay late last week, holding a structures workshop for Earth Day. The beneficiaries of this exercise: a dozen middle school students. The AfH team presented principles of earthquake-resistant design and distributed kits of parts (cardboard sites, sized applicator sticks and jujubes) and programs for a school.

This pilot exercise might find extended life as part of a school-design curriculum being developed by Architecture for Humanity and StudentsRebuild.org. StudentsRebuild is an international program facilitating middle and high school student teams raising money for permanent school construction in Haiti. The curriculum will teach the teams the process of designing and building a school in Haiti, including a unit on structural design for earthquakes and hurricanes. The lessons will be accompanied by interactive conferencing with building professionals supported by Global Nomads Group.

Thanks to Diana Bianchini at Di Moda Public Relations for facilitating this.  Follow her on Twitter at dimodapr.