Architecture for Humanity Wins National Design Award

Co-founded in 1999 by Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, Architecture for Humanity provides pro bono design services to build essential structures for communities in 26 countries that are affected by social and humanitarian crises.

by Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 9/4/2008

Score one for good design, and one more for the goodness behind it: Architecture for Humanity has been selected as Design Patron in the 2008 National Design Awards for its commitment to making sustainable architecture accessible to global communities in need.

Paul Warwick Thompson, director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, created the honor, which recognizes outstanding support and patronage within the design community. Architecture for Humanity will be officially honored with the rest of the award winners at an October 23 dinner at the Cooper-Hewitt.

Co-founded in 1999 by Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, Architecture for Humanity connects communities affected by social and humanitarian crises with an international network of more than 4,000 architecture and construction professionals, who provide design services to build housing, clinics, schools and other essential structures. The non-profit is currently working in 26 countries, the projects ranging from health centers in sub-Saharan Africa and community centers in Southeast Asia, to low-income housing on the U.S.'s Gulf Coast.

While a jury selects all other National Design Awards, Thompson himself designates the Design Patron honoree. "Since 1999, Architecture for Humanity has grown into an international, open-source community for innovative design on a global scale," he says. "Whether housing tsunami refugees in Sri Lanka, providing homes for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina or building schools for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Uganda, Architecture for Humanity has demonstrated that good design can indeed change the world."

Architecture for Humanity joins the likes of Chicago mayor, Richard M. Daley, textile specialist Maharam, and hotelier André Balazs in claiming the honor.