09 November 2009

The refugees of boom-and-bust: Cameron Sinclair on TED.com

At TEDGlobal U, Cameron Sinclair shows the unreported cost of real estate megaprojects gone bust: thousands of migrant construction laborers left stranded and penniless. To his fellow architects, he says there is only one ethical response. (Recorded at TEDGlobal University 2009, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 3:06)

Watch Cameron Sinclair's talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 500+ TEDTalks.

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10 July 2009

Watch TEDTalks from speakers at the upcoming TEDGlobal 2009

From TEDGlobal's speaker list of more than 90 -- including 18-minute talks, demos and TED U courses -- 13 of our scheduled speakers already have TEDTalks online from previous TEDs and partners. To find them, check out our new theme, Speaking at TEDGlobal 2009, and watch archive gems from these returning speakers. All of these speakers are bringing something new to TEDGlobal 2009, exploring the theme of the conference, "The Substance of Things Not Seen."

Browse the new theme Speaking at TEDGlobal 2009 >>

See the full conference schedule for TEDGlobal 2009, July 21-24 in Oxford >>

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18 June 2009

Designing the classroom of the future on the Open Architecture Network

Via TEDPrize.org: 2006 TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair recently wrote to update us on the amazing success of this year's Open Architecture Challenge. The challenge was for teams of teachers, students, architects and designers to work together to design the classroom of the future for a school of their own choosing. Tens of thousands of participants and hundreds of schools from 45 countries submitted their designs.

The submission period ended on June 1 and will now go through a three step jury process. The winners will be announced in the fall.

Equally as exciting is the groundbreaking of the SIDAREC community center - the first winner of our OAN challenge - tomorrow in Kenya.

The Open Architecture Network is truly helping make innovative design more accessible.

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09 March 2009

Design for the minds of the future -- a new contest!

Architecture for Humanity wants your ideas and designs for the classrooms of the future. Their 2009 Open Architecture Challenge invites students, teachers and architects to submit their designs for classrooms in the places that need them most. You don't have to be a licensed architect, just submit the best possible plans and they'll find you a team.

The plans must be site specific and the designer can partner with a school of their choice, but AFH offers three very deserving partners. Orient Global needs design solutions for classrooms in high-density, urban India. Modular Building Institute and Blazer Industries want to produce relocatable classrooms to get around traditional school district constraints. Finally, Building Tomorrow is asking for classrooms that would work in remote and rural areas of Uganda. Challenging scenarios all three, but bursting with possibilities.

From Cameron Sinclair: Register by May 4, and enter by June 1. The winning team receives $5,000, AND the selected school receives $50,000 to renovate their spaces to become more sustainable. Runners-up get $1K/$10K. If you have any questions on how to enter, feel free to email me or visit the site for more details.
Cheers,
Cameron

The competition is hosted through the Open Architecture Network that was born from Cameron Sinclair's 2006 TED Prize wish. To discover more about the organization and humanitarian design watch his 2006 TEDTalk:

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29 August 2008

To do this weekend: Vote for Architecture for Humanity

Via Treehugger: The Members Project, from American Express, is a contest to support worthy projects from a $2.5 million fund. 2006 TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair, of Architecture for Humanity, has submitted a project to help build sustainable livelihoods for artisans in Southeast Asia:

a locally driven social venture that creates an alliance of textile designers and gifted artisans in Southeast Asia to produce luxurious hand-woven fabrics. By providing economic opportunity, we help preserve hand-weaving in Asia while creating environmentally sustainable fabrics. Collections include fabric-by-the-yard as well as home and fashion accessories that are marketed through select retailers. We are ready to hire thousands of weavers and build innovative weaving centers.

You can nominate Cameron's project for consideration in this fund -- or nominate any of the 1,190 projects submitted -- until September 1, and you don't need to be an American Express cardholder to nominate and discuss the projects.

Learn more about the Members Project >>

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06 May 2008

Help Myanmar (Burma) rebuild, with Architecture for Humanity

Following Saturday's devastating Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma), Architecture for Humanity is asking for help in rebuilding the country over the long term. They write:

While the media will focus its attention on the loss of life, there will be millions displaced in the coming weeks -- and like most natural disasters, there's no plan for long-term sustainable reconstruction. Large aid agencies like Oxfam and Care will be knee-deep in immediate delivery of aid. How will the country respond to the long-term strategic need to rebuild the country?

We will need to raise a minimum of $10,000 to provide design services to communities affected by the disaster. This is a small start, but could affect tens of thousands of those displaced.

In the first 6 hours of this drive, AfH raised $4,000 from over 120 donors. Learn more about this appeal >>

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08 April 2008

Open Architecture Network panel in San Francisco, April 9

How can we use the Web to drive social change? Learn from the story of Architecture for Humanity, which leveraged a 2006 TED Prize to build the Open Architecture Network, linking communities around the globe with architects and designers who can help them solve problems. Tomorrow night, at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, a few major players in the effort will talk about how it happened and what they learned: Amy Novogratz, the director of the TED Prize; Kate Stohr of Architecture for Humanity (whose cofounder, Cameron Sinclair, was awarded the TED Prize in 2006); Scott Mattoon of Sun Microsystems, a key partner; and Maria Giudice of Hot Studio, which built the OAN site and is now working on Dave Eggers' 2008 TED Prize wish, OnceUponASchool.org.

The panel happens at 6 pm at the Commonwealth Club on Market Street, Wednesday, April 9. There's a reception beforehand, at 5:30 pm.

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11 March 2008

Four TEDsters named 2008 Young Global Leaders by WEF

[Updated 3/12, 10am] Crusading journalist Andrew Mwenda and think tank leader James Shikwati -- both stars of TEDGlobal Africa last summer -- as well as TEDGlobal Fellow Paul Van Zyl and architect Cameron Sinclair, winner of the 2006 TED Prize, have all been named Young Global Leaders for 2008 by the World Economic Forum.

Each year, the World Economic Forum selects around 250 leaders under 40 to work on a grand vision for the world of the future. Mwenda, Shikwati, Sinclair and Van Zyl will work with the other young leaders on a strategic plan to solve critical problems facing the world, such as climate change, genocide, state aid and microfinance.

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20 October 2005

Cameron Sinclair: A 'silver lining' to this year's disasters

A great piece in BusinessWeek Online suggests that TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair and his work with Architecture for Humanity could be the silver lining to this year of natural catastrophes...

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14 October 2005

TED Prize Winner: Cameron Sinclair

Cameron Sinclair's mantra: Design like you give a damn. He's the co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, a non-profit that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings design services to communities in need. This past year has been a busy one for Cameron, with the tsunami, Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan. He's become the go-to person around disaster-recovery issues, fielding thousands of emails a week from people seeking to help. He plans to think big with his TED Prize wish, and is open to ideas. But for the sake of his In-box, let's have that conversation here ...

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