Architecture for Humanity

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, writing for Fast Company, reports on the European Prize for Architecture, a prize given to architects who serve humanity:

There are dozens of annual awards doled out to architects who build beautiful, expensive work. The European Prize for Architecture provides a much-needed counterpoint in the industry, rewarding architects who make “significant contributions to humanity" above all else. And this year’s winners, Norway’s TYIN Tegnestue, embody that mission completely: Their ingeniously thrifty, locally constructed projects in the developing world often cost less than $10,000 to build–a drop in the bucket in an architecture world often mired in excess.

This, to me, is what architecture is about - using design and ingenuity to fundamentally better the lives of those we serve. Architects who devote their creative energy towards solving the problems faced by the most under served deserve to be recognized for their contribution to a better world.

There should be caution though - the poor and under served deserve better than the social and physical experimentation they must sometimes endure. Too often architects use these projects as opportunities to push the limits and experiment. What the poor and under served need are proven solutions delivered using economical strategies. There’s certainly room for innovative thinking but let’s not lose sight of the people we are designing for.