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http://www.lavoutenubienne.org
Ten years ago in Burkina Faso, a landlocked African county, a small change started in the way people built their homes. Today that provides employment to many and is a growing way of life. It involves the construction of a simple vaulted earth roof, which was the traditional way of building for centuries, till it was replaced by other, less viable materials like tin roofs. 

The Earth Roofs for the Sahel, is a programme that is part of the Association la Voute Nubienne, (AVN) an NGO registered in France and Burkina Faso, in 2000. It promotes the construction of timberless valuted earth brick houses, using a well known technique known as la Voute Nubienne (VN). The VN technique is actually an adaptation of an age old technique of building houses from the Nubian region of Egypt. The country has two seasons, a rainy one for around 4 months, and the rest of the year is the hot season with winds from the Sahara. Traditional building used earth walls, thatched roofs and some timber, but with population growth the use of timber for construction is illegal or too expensive. People often resort to sheet metal or timber beams. These materials drain family resources, sheet metal gets corroded, and they are often imported from outside at high expense. Sheet metal also has poor heat and sound insulation. 

The first prototype of a VN construction in Boromo, Burkina Faso, was built as a challenge by Thomas Granier and Séri Youlou in 1998. Next year, a VN house was built, and the Association la Voute Nubienne was founded in 2000 to promote the VN technique as a solution for affordable, sustainable housing in the Sahel.

The vault roof is built without a timber support. The roof is waterproofed using locally produced plastic sheeting over a smooth coating of mud. This way of building is not only ecologically and economically sound, but also socially viable, and all these three parameters are essential in a country that occupies the sixth to last place on the Human Development Index. Local masons are trained, and they in turn employ apprentices once they become master masons. After some experience, master masons become independent entrepreneurs. The AVN helps them through the process, and helps the entrepreneurs develop a client pool through communication and networking. Till today approximately 235 houses and 20 public buildings (including schools, dispensaries, churches and mosques) have been built. Over 115 masons have been trained and there are currently 170 apprentices.

Houses using the VN technique are more comfortable, healthy and durable. They are also safer, less prone to collapse and better in extremes of climate. They can be easily built with local materials and labour, most houses are built by bartering crops and/or labour. The families cover the housing and material cost, with AVN only covering a margin of labour and training costs. Now AVN has to cover less and less, which is a healthy sign of an active, self-sustaining system. The project is generating income and employment for many, and there have been over 7000 beneficiaries till date. The number of apprentices is increasing, which means more masons to carry out further training in the future. The vaulted roof can be converted to a flat terrace roof and the technique allows for later extension of a building, even adding a second storey onto an existing single storey building.

The simplicity of this technique, (you can read more about it here) and its involvement of the local community are key to its success. It does not require fancy equipment, skill, or technical know-how. While giving people a better way to live, it also provides a means of livelihood, essential in such places. It has led to a major reduction in the use of imported materials, as it uses local materials, earth and water, and deforestation has also reduced. The poorest of families in remote rural areas are also building with this technique. Money saved by building this way is used for health or education. 

This technique thrives because it stays as close to the people it was meant for, as possible. It is an innovation not only in design, but also in system. It traditionally comes from their own culture, it draws on local materials and skill, and creates independent entrepreneurs, reducing dependence on the mother NGO, and outside resources. 

Do have a look at the video below.

By Armeen Kapadia

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http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/
Architecture for Humanity is an initiative started in 1999, and today is a network of more than 40,000 professionals who give their time and knowledge to help those who would otherwise would not be able to afford their services. One of the ironies of our time is the fact that often, the people who are most in need of design and development services, are the ones who can least afford it. In the last ten years Architecture for Humanity has helped rebuild local communities after natural disasters, alleviate poverty and provide access to to clean water. They also work for communities struggling with urbanization, build for the differently abled, rebuild communities post-conflict, and reduce the footprint of buildings. 

One of the key areas they work in is sustainable design. They believe (very sensibly) that "Buildings not only have a physical footprint - they have an ethical footprint." Projects they work on range form community centers for tsunami affected people in Sri Lanka, to preservation of defaced structures in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The projects on their site and both numerous and varied, and there is a detailed documentation of each one. Their sensitivity to culture, people and the environment, results in buildings and spaces that blend with and support the local resources, as well as revitalize the local culture and sense of community. As they say, "Design is important to every aspect of our lives. It informs the places in which we live, work, learn, heal and gather. We engage all stakeholders in the design process. We believe our clients are designers in their own right."

Cameron Sinclair is the CEO, (Chief Eternal Optimist as they call it) of Architecture for Humanity, of which he is the co-founder with Kate Stohr. He was trained as an architect in University College, London, where he developed an interest in social, cultural and humanitarian design. Ten years back he and his wife Kate had an idea while watching news of the refugees in Kosovo. Cameron said, "I bet there is more than just us who cares about these communities, who want to help and make a difference." They launched a design competition for Kosovo, and were flooded with a new ideas for refugee housing. And so Architecture for Humanity was born. You can read more on him here. They have co-authored a book 'Design Like You Give A Dam'. (I couldn't have said it better myself!)

Cameron believes that when your clients are living on less than 50 cents a day, being 'green' is not a choice. Sustainability is also about affordability, and innovation with the minimum resources.
You can request design services or offer design services. Also have a look at Open Architecture Network, another initiative by them, an online, opens-source community to share knowledge and improve living conditions. These people realize that architecture is so much more than just 'buildings'. It is the spaces we live in, and in a way our homes, workplaces and gathering places are extensions of ourselves. They shape us as much as we shape them. I quote their site "One billion people live in abject poverty. Four billion live in fragile but growing economies. One in seven people live in slum settlements. By 2020 it will be one in three. We don't need to choose between architecture or revolution. What we need is an architectural revolution."
One of the several current projects is happening in Haiti, post-earthquake. Cameron's entire posts on the home page are worth reading. A quote here, "For those not used to working in disasters the first week is chaotic, filled with stories of heroism and despair. The first responders are not the NGO's or medical personal but the families of those who are injured or lost their lives. It is an overwhelming situation to be in. It is also not the time for architects to show up thinking they can rebuild. People are trying to find their loved ones not think about what their lives will look like in 5, 10 or 15 years."

Do read their site in detail, its range and depth of work is commendable, and have a look at the video below. (lots more videos on YouTube). Its time to design like you give a dam. 
By Armeen Kapadia


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Re-nourish 01/13/2010
 
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Re-nourish.com is all about doing just that, re-nourishing the environment, using the power of design. (special attention graphic designers!) Many designers want to know the environmental impacts of their projects, but don't have the right resource to turn to. Re-nourish is such a resource, that tells us all about making better design decisions for a better environment, and calculating the environmental cost each project has. 

Some of the useful tools on their site are the project calculator and the paper finder which help you get an idea of how much you are wasting or saving. There is also the Sustainable Graphic Design Standards page, where you can fill out their online application and they will assess how sustainable the project is. As explained, "There is currently no universal, reliable set of sustainability standards available to graphic designers, their clients, or consumers—no way to know, quickly, whether or not a project, or a studio, is legitimately sustainable. As a result, studios struggle to educate clients about their environmental efforts, clients don't know where to begin the decision-making process, and everyone ends up either confused, mislead, or just disgusted with the whole business." Yes, how true. Designers are often too flummoxed by the whole process to advise clients correctly. Dispel confusion by a good read-through of Re-nourish.com.

Do read their Introduction to Sustainable Design, which dispels the myth that sustainable design is difficult, or clients won't want it. A must read is the Sustainability Design Roadmap. This tells us how we can actually be more responsible and take better design decisions, right from the start of a project. And its pretty simple to do. There is also a good amount of information on greener paper, greener printing, greener ink and greener materials, for all of us designers who were foggy about these issues. 

As said on their site, under resources: print design, "Without most us even realizing it, print design has been traveling an unsustainable path for years, relying heavily on virgin wood fiber and toxic manufacturing processes. This path seemed to make good business sense because it cost less, and it was easily accessible. But the pulp and paper industry is now the fourth largest industrial polluter in the United States; paper takes up 26% of our country's landfills, and uses 40% of the world's wood harvest. (source: Green Press Initiative)

It's pretty clear by now that the real costs of remaining on this path are just too high.More and more, though, print designers are taking small steps along a new, more sustainable path. We're discovering that small changes become large when multiplied by thousands of other designers making similar decisions.

Need an example? Given a typically tight budget to produce a catalog, two University of Illinois design students assumed that recycled paper would be cost prohibitive. But using the Re-nourish Project Calculator, they discovered that if they trimmed just 1/4" off the book height they would save around 1,000 press sheets. This saved them $3,000, allowing them to specify a high quality, 100% recycled, FSC-certified paper. With a little design thinking, they saved 9,717 gallons of water, 13 million BTUs of energy, 942 pounds of solid waste and avoided 2,255 pounds of greenhouse gases. Now imagine what you could do with the right tools."

Modern packaging is another thing that is eating into the environment at an alarming rate. As they say, the greenest packaging is no packaging at all. This can be extremely feasible for some products, such as T-shirts, which can just be rolled up and secured with a product tag. Of course the 'no-packaging' approach cannot work for many products, and in those cases one needs to be more aware of materials, re-usability, and mode of transport.

While we may not have a network of greener printers here in India, there are other simple steps to ensure that a project is at least somewhat sustainable. Do have a look at their Case Studies page as well. Definitely read their Glossary, also explaining Eco logos (those little things you may see on sheets of paper, products, packages, and you don't know what they really mean).   

Re-nourish is a great site to visit, and read through thoroughly because it makes sustainable design accessible to us all. It tells us how simple design decisions can go a long way in creating positive impact, and its really just a question of designers changing their way of thinking, of being aware and alert, and willing to change, during the design process. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) sustainable design will form a core part of design curriculum worldwide. Till then, we can take the help of such exhaustive resources such as Re-nourish. 

As said on their site, "Now imagine what you could do with the right tools."

By Armeen Kapadia
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Wat-a-filter! 01/06/2010
 
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Every year millions of children die of water-borne diseases. A scientist from Australia has developed a filter, that's as easy to make as it is to use, with clay, coffee and, believe it or not, some good ol' cow dung. He created this technology in 2005, and it has never been patented, so that it is used freely wherever required in the world.

Tony Flynn, an artist, potter and materials scientist at the Australian National University (ANU), realised that water-borne diseases such as diarrhea destroy numerous lives, especially in the developing world. Most water filters consist of a hollow ceramic vessel filled with charcoal. These filters are usually imported from foreign countries, and out of reach for the people who need it the most. This filter uses normal clay, found freely anywhere in the world, mixed with coffee. The clay on its own is too dense to allow water through. When the clay is mixed with coffee in equal parts, and fired, the coffee creates holes in it, making it porous. 

Firing of clay is an expensive affair requiring a kiln, and Tony knew this would not be practical. Wood too, is not always easily available. He realised that cow manure is the ideal material as a dung fire burns at 950˚C, perfect for baking clay. After around an hour of baking in the dung, the filter is ready to use. When tested the filter removes between 94.6 and 99.8% of e-coli in water. The tiny holes of the filter are too small for bacteria to go through. However, particles from the clay itself, and some viruses can pass through the filter. "It's not a golden bullet but it's a bullet nevertheless. It will help where there's nothing else available." Mr. Flynn elaborates. According to the ANU, 'the organic materials are burned away during the firing process and create small passages in the filter that allow water, but not pathogens, to pass. This filter effectively removes 96.4-99.8% of E. Coli in water.'

This invention was born out of a World Vision and Potters for Peace project in East Timor, to rehabilitate a small potter community, Manatuto, that had been displaced by the constant violence of East Timor's civil war. The idea was empower the potters to make their own filters, and maybe even sell them for income. 

The simple materials, and the firing with cow-dung ensures this is a 'zero-technology' process, available whenever needed. Tony Flynn sums it up,"“Everyone has a right to clean water, these filters have the potential to enable anyone in the world to drink water safely."

By Armeen Kapadia
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Now its not that often that you come across someone who says 'We believe design can change the world.', as there is a hard-core cynic in a lot of us, but Project H is one initiative that does believe in it. 'Project H Design connects the power of design to the people who need it most, and the places where it can make a real and lasting difference.'

Project H is a California based non-profit. Project H is a team of designers, builders, thinkers and doers, working locally to improve the quality of life for the socially overlooked. Project H consists of design initiatives for humanity, habitats, health, and happiness. Its really worth reading their process, as stated on the site. Here it is in brief:
1) There is no design without (critical) action.
2) We design WITH, not FOR. 
3) We document, share, and measure.
4) We start locally, and scale globally.
5) We design systems, not stuff. 
These pretty much sum up the holy grail of design, or atleast charts the future course of design.

Project H is the brainwave of Emily Pilloton, a designer who in January 2008, decided it was time to quit her job 'designing the superfluous', and create something more meaningful to the world in general. You can read more about Emily here. 

Don't miss reading the Manifesto page on the site. An extract, "...here’s the brass tacks reality: We need to challenge the design world to take the “product” out of product design for a second and deliver results and impact rather than form and function; to reconsider who our clients really are; to turn our tightly-cinched consumer business models and luxury aesthetics on their heads; to get over “going green;” and to enlist a new generation of design activists. We need big hearts, bigger business sense, and even bigger balls."

You can read more about Project H here and here. And definitely take a good look at their projects. Design to inspire in 2010 and beyond.

By Armeen Kapadia
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