Winning ways
Since Architecture for Humanity made its mark in 1999 with a competition to design transitional housing for returning refugees in Kosovo, it has used designers' competitive streaks to its advantage. Its competitions have produced the ultimate mobile health clinic for Aids victims in sub-Saharan Africa, a factory to connect indigenous chocolate producers in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the global marketplace, and many more projects.
This may present an interesting challenge for the 2011 competition, to be launched in September. AFH will be asking architects to repurpose disused military installations for civic use.
'They're built with taxpayers' money - really well built - and just end up sitting there,' executive director Cameron Sinclair says. 'These buildings can withstand natural disasters and last a long, long time.'
Finding such buildings could prove the first hurdle since, due to national security efforts, they are rarely plotted publicly; the second problem could be securing permission.
Yet Sinclair and his team tend to enjoy a good challenge themselves, even the politically flavoured ones. In Gaza, for example, where Palestinian dwellings are often demolished by Israeli forces, they once agreed to write a manual on how to rebuild one's house, should 'something' happen to it.
'We're not a faith-based or politically led organisation; we can work with anyone who invites us,' Sinclair says. 'We just have to keep our focus on the architecture. But I'm interested to see if anyone picks Guantanamo. The government is aware of this project, so we'll see.'
