An international network of non-profit organizations and groups, Architects Without Borders (AWB) utilizes architecture and planning as tools for addressing various social and humanitarian issues. AWB brings together professionals from various fields, including architecture, design, planning, and aligned disciplines, to provide pro bono design services to communities in need, especially those lacking access to such professional services.
AWB is a branch of Architecture Sans Frontières International (ASF), which is an international network of organizations that promote sustainable architecture and urban development to address social, humanitarian, and environmental challenges.
Aim and Goals of AWB
Their mission is to foster collaboration with low-resourced communities in delivering environmentally conscious, culturally suitable, and transformative designs. They strive to make a difference by undertaking architectural development projects, raising awareness about poverty alleviation, and advocating for improved land rights in slums and informal settlements. Their unwavering dedication lies in ensuring access to decent housing and improved living conditions.
Their primary objectives revolve around facilitating connections between the design and building communities with communities and non-profit groups in need of architectural assistance, tackling both immediate and long-standing issues related to insufficient infrastructure, community facilities, and housing, and offering architectural students the chance to gain valuable experience in service, collaboration, design, and construction.
Value / Guiding Principles
AWB chapters follow the Hasselt Charter as their common value base and guiding principles, which is a collaborative commitment by architecture and design organizations to amplify their collective impact. Consisting of 10 principles aimed at achieving fair and sustainable development in collaboration with disadvantaged communities. The character emphasizes human solidarity, non-discrimination, and promoting self-sufficiency.
Built environment professionals are encouraged to prioritize social models of practice over economic gain. The charter lays emphasis on collaboration with public institutions, multilateral organizations, and even the private sector to support policies and programs fostering social equity and urban inclusion. It also supports the integration of relief efforts into sustainable development strategies and advocates for access to adequate and dignified habitat as a fundamental human right for all.
Approach and Methodology of Working
To achieve their goals, AWB mobilises a network of dedicated volunteer design professionals from diverse fields, including architects, landscape architects, structural engineers, civil engineers, planners, and others. They adopt an upstream approach to problem-solving, working proactively to create positive change and enable meaningful outcomes.
The steps involved in each project are:
Receiving a project request, for which one needs to fill out their online request form, after which the Project is reviewed, and a vetter (someone who coordinates with the one who has sent the request) is assigned. Post the vetting process, the project gets activated, and a project lead is identified along with a design team of volunteers with matching skillsets for the project. This volunteer team collaborates through meetings, calls, and emails to address specific needs, and offer design services, engage stakeholders, and visit project sites. This process lasts from months to years, at times leading to multiple projects with strong community relationships. The volunteer team collaborates with the client partner to address various challenges throughout the project, and although AWB doesn’t fund construction at times, they assist with recruiting local volunteers for project implementation.
Projects
Although each chapter focuses on different types of projects, the Seattle chapter consists of local projects, Africa projects, Asia projects, and America projects. For local projects such as Encompass Northwest, AWBS is supporting Encompass Early Learning Center in securing funds for improving their outdoor play areas. Encompass NW focuses on early learning, pediatric therapy, and family enrichment to establish strong foundations for children of all abilities. For other local projects, they have been coordinating with other non-profit organisations such as Sibling House, Sawhorse Revolution, Habitat for Humanity, and many others.
While for their Africa projects, they have done the Wai Health Clinic in Wai, Sierra Leone, and Information Technology Center in Panykworo, Uganda, in partnership with Engineers Without Borders. Another project in Africa is the Nicopolis Tanzania Albinism Support Center, located in the Chunya District of Tanzania, which is a multi-phase project aimed at establishing a self-sustaining, safe, and therapeutic centre for individuals with albinism.
Other projects in America include a Vocational Center of Morazan, an ongoing project involving a collaboration with an educational development organization in Honduras; the project focuses on creating infrastructure that provides a vocational and educational curriculum for children and young adults. Meanwhile, one of the projects in Asia is the Mt. Everest Biogas Project, located at the Base Camp of Mt. Everest in Nepal, which aims to address the issue of human solid waste disposal. Currently, over 13 tons of waste are brought down from Mt. Everest and dumped in open, unlined pits. AWB has teamed up with Engineers Without Borders to design a digester that will treat the waste and provide a solution to this environmental problem.
The Global Network
AWB operates via a network of chapters and partnerships across the world. These local chapters allow professionals and volunteers to engage in community-based projects within their respective regions while benefiting from the collective knowledge and support of the larger network. Some of the active chapters can be found in various cities in the United States (Austin, Seattle, Oregon), the United Kingdom (London and other cities), Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, among others.
References (online):
Home: AWB-Seattle (no date) awb. Available at: https://www.awb-seattle.org/ (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Arkitekter Uten Grenser (no date) Arkitekter uten grenser. Available at: https://www.augnorge.org/ (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Home (2023) Architecture Sans Frontières Québec. Available at: https://www.asf-quebec.org/en/ (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Architects without borders (no date) Oregon. Available at: http://www.awboregon.org/ (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Design for equitable cities (no date) Architecture Sans Frontieres UK. Available at: https://www.asf-uk.org/ (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Images:
(no date) Mission of Hope Charette, awb-seattle. Available at: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cda5e6_977f083255fe40d498f042718ce49a16~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_118,y_0,w_1882,h_1476/fill/w_1735,h_1361,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Mission%20of%20Hope%20Charette%202_edited.jpg. (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
(no date) Awb-seattle. Available at: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cda5e6_d58a4426c8284e909d6c48b4752a461a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_566,h_752,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/cda5e6_d58a4426c8284e909d6c48b4752a461a~mv2.jpg. (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
(no date) Awb-seattle. Available at: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cda5e6_3fe654f09b754826b33504d9b957ed49~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1782,h_707,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/cda5e6_3fe654f09b754826b33504d9b957ed49~mv2.jpg. (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
(no date) Awb-seattle. Available at: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cda5e6_15d62a83bd8546bdb37bac739db9ccd9~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_792,h_612,al_c,q_85,enc_auto/cda5e6_15d62a83bd8546bdb37bac739db9ccd9~mv2.jpg. (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
