TED Blog

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: