Introduction

Ground Rules for Humanitarian Design

Ground Rules or basic rules about what should be done in a particular situation or event1 is predicated on the notion that there is a playing field on which team members are united in the adherence to specific principles. In the case of this book, the playing field refers to the ground on which we build and the environment in which we live. There have been a series of events that, like dots, have been connecting for centuries; these events, in hindsight, unveil the interconnectedness of the choices we make every day. These small and sometimes mundane choices, in multiplicity of billions, have affected the environmental and social context of our lives in the most catastrophic ways imaginable. From the elimination of hundreds of species of animals within the last century,2 to the degradation of our ecosystem, to extreme hunger from poverty, to outbreaks of terrorism, we are all compromised. This book is conceived as a response to witnessing the catastrophic events in the past decade, in order to reconcile these ruptured grounds and start with design thinking3 as a tool for levelling the playing field.

Charcoal seller in Haiti. Because of extensive poverty and the cultural tradition of using charcoal for cooking, trees have been cut down to make charcoal. The effect this has had is extreme land degradation. © Damian Fitzsimmons.

Humanitarian designers and anyone ambitious enough to effect a difference within the context of climate change, extreme poverty and ecological or political upheaval, may collectively play this field with a set of principles that are interconnected with regard to all of the above. This pioneering generation of architects and designers are participating in a global vision of a world where the design and the aggregate choices we make as individuals have the power to transform it dramatically. Design is always influenced by individual preferences. The design thinking method shares a common set of traits, namely, creativity and ambidextrous thinking,4 which requires teamwork, empathy, curiosity and optimism. Hopefully we are professionals who believe that human dignity begins with an appreciation and inclusion of wonder and art, and take creative steps towards making things better because, however small to however vast, we can do so. Historically, the conventional ways of coping with complexity in human settlements are not satisfactory. Much of the difficulty comes about because hubris, population growth and technological advancement interact in a vicious cycle.5 Architects and designers in developing and developed regions are, in a sense, problematising the past solutions, highlighting good design as a critical and necessary human right. They are instigating and inventing an active voice to lead better practices of conservation, mitigation and recovery.

The hillsides of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are a collage of shelters. The colours act as a codification for the nongovernmental organisations that built them. These plywood structures are called 'transitional' homes, although none have running water, sanitation or electricity. © Damian Fitzsimmons.

Rules of Measure

The purpose of this text is to provide a survey of salient issues that will face any designer initiating work with communities in crisis. Each topic that serves as a structural section is incredibly large and broad; we hope that these parts may serve as devices for further research and reference tools by which to check one's design process. Have you considered, at minimum, each of these fields of impact within this situation? Two voices are paired in each part through essays, which are intended to elucidate disparate issues within these expansive categorisations. The issues raised and projects discussed are by no means exhaustive; rather, they barely scratch the surface and each part dovetails, contradicts and incorporates issues raised in the other parts of the text. The chapters in this publication are codified and organised to identify the primary and principal issues, which are a system of parts that should be referenced as an organic network, greater than the whole. What the contributors demonstrate is that there is a need for basic yet less linear systems that allow for creative adaptation. For instance, land and property rights are interrelated to issues of economy as well as environment. This anthology of contributed essays is specifically structured to enhance the developments that are already in place from nongovernmental organisations, such as Médicins Sans Frontière/Doctors Without Borders, to the burgeoning 'For Profit and Purpose'6 model that is accelerating humanitarian design movement through entrepreneurial channels.

Across socioeconomic spectrums, designers and architects take risks because of a belief in something bigger than ourselves. In Part 6: Local Materials and Local Skills, we see how the importance of shifting away from petrol-based plastics, such as polystyrene, has given birth to entrepreneurial ventures that collaborate across disciplines, inventing and investing on economic returns while resolving pressing problems. New companies such as Ecovative Design7 are picking up momentum for this very reason. Designers are trained to understand that they have the capability to make something better, be it a policy, a structure, components made of paper, plastic bottles, grass and so on.

An orphaned girl reading with a SolarPuff, an inflatable solar light invented by Alice Min Soo Chun, designed to replace kerosene lanterns. Two million children die each year because of poor indoor air quality caused by kerosene lanterns. In areas of extreme poverty people spend up to 30 per cent of their income on kerosene to light their world at night. © Damian Fitzsimmons.

What Matters

Architects and designers are not only challenged but also provoked by a dehumanising environment or object - be it a plywood temporary shelter in Haiti, a cup of kerosene set on fire for light or a barren brown landscape marking hunger - to make the unimaginable come to pass. In a conversation about the themes of this book, Cameron Sinclair, cofounder of the former Architecture for Humanity, discussed the process of working for social change through design:

cultural sustainability should be more important than environmental sustainability. If people don't feel comfortable and they don't love the places they live, they'll trash it anyway. Stick a solar panel on every one of those cookie-cutter cardboard homes and people are going to trash the environment. So it's counterintuitive to focus on a 'carbon-neutral slum'. The most perfect architect is someone who is a secret anthropologist. Someone who has an inherent curiosity and respect for the community they work in, and a willingness to learn from them. Part of the role of the architect is not to come in with an aesthetic focal point, but actually to understand - what does beauty mean, what does space mean for that community? It's even more nuanced than critical regionalism.8

Sinclair reminisced about Sam Mockbee, a significant architect and activist who left a huge legacy, with Rural Studio:

Sam had a saying: "Work as if no one's listening." This means that the reason for actually doing this work is not because you want people telling you how great you are . you're doing it because the work needs to get done. The attention should always be focused on the work. When you start doing it because, "everyone thinks I'm cool because I'm helping others", it's no longer about actually helping or implementing. The rule should be about what the questions should be: "What is your objective?" Having a heart is not enough. Just because you care, it is not enough. You have to have the confidence that the skills that you can bring to the table will have a dramatic effect on the community in which you are serving.9

Architecture, more than any other art form, is a social art and must rest on the social and cultural base of its time and place. For those of us who design and build, we must do so with an awareness of a more socially responsive architecture. The practice of architecture not only requires participation in the profession, but also it requires civic engagement. As a social art, architecture must be made where it is, and out of what exists there. The dilemma for every architect is how to advance our profession and our community with our talents, rather than our talents being used to compromise them.10

Haiti, aerial view of land degradation. Owing to the lack of agriculture, the brown area to the left indicates no ecology. Firewood is used for cooking food and so the poor have cut down all the trees. This leaves the bare land prone to extremely dangerous mudslides and flash flooding. © Alice Min Soo Chun.

Another key voice providing intellectual underpinnings for this project, through his early writings on critical regionalism to a current perspective is architectural historian, Kenneth Frampton. While discussing with him his thoughts on critical regionalism he said:

I am committed to the idea of critical regionalism. Although it is not something that I speak about much these days, I'm committed to this way of looking at the world. There is a really impressive global phenomenon taking place right...