contributed by Darlene M. Molnar, LEED AP [designer / grad student / material girl / single white female]

You donate to your alumni fund, participate in at least one event a year that has “athon” in the name, and occasionally consider helping old ladies cross the street. Yes, you are practically a saint. With nearly your whole paycheck spent at the gas pump the only thing you’re going to do for free is an über posh internship. These were my thoughts exactly. As a full time student, employee, and socializer, my time is mine. So when asked to spend some of my oh-so-precious hours reviewing design projects for free, I had to pause. Not a dollar” No stock option” Nothing for my 401K” Are these people crazy” In an attempt to get in good with the man upstairs, though, I agreed to and fell in love with the best profit sharing available: volunteering design.

New to the design world and wanting to get involved in anything and everything the industry had to offer, I joined Architecture for Humanity [AFH] in 2006. AFH was relatively new and had a fresh spunkiness that drew me in. Months later, the non-profit announced the start of their 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge. The goal was to develop solutions for building sustainable, multi-purpose, low-cost technology facilities for those who need them most (i.e., get the Internet to under-developed communities).

As part of the competition, NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations], local groups and social entrepreneurs from around the world were invited to submit proposals to be selected as a community partner for the challenge. A panel of 40 professionals (here’s where I came in) from the fields of design, technology, environmental science and international development were asked to review 115 proposals from 35 countries.

The Investment

My assignment was straightforward. Given about 15 proposals to review, I holed myself up over a long weekend and carefully read through each one. I was to rate each on how well they met a variety of application requirements, which ranged from the community’s expressed need for Internet access to how possible it would be to get a design and construction team to the suggested site.

As I sat in my comfy apartment sipping on Starbucks, I felt the impact this kind of assignment can have on the designer(s) that undertake them as well as the communities involved. Reading through the proposals I saw another world. Poor communities with no stable income or link to the rest of the world. Some without running water or plumbing.

The Result

Moreover, I saw clearly the obligation someone like me (like you maybe too) has to get involved. I don’t know one designer who isn’t in the design world because they love it. Because ever since they can remember this is what they wanted to be “when they grew up”. We are a lucky breed in that we are living the lives we imagined, in careers we want to be in. Lucky and fortunate. We have endless educational opportunities and the world at our disposal to design. So, to take the words from AFH, let’s “design like we give a damn.”

By getting involved in this project, I was contributing the passion and knowledge – that I am so fortunate to have – to a greater cause. I wasn’t doing it to pad my resume or get on a list of benefactors. It was (and will always be) about spending a few hours joining a collective group of like-minded designers who believe every bit makes a difference.  

Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need. It is a network of professionals willing to lend their time and talents to support community development, help communities rebuild after disaster and provide pro bono design services to community partners around the world.

As the winner of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge, The Global Studio will see their ideas come to life for SIDAREC in the heart of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. For more information on the competition go here.