Ground Rules in Humanitarian Design

Ground Rules in Humanitarian Design establishes essential foundations for thinking about humanitarian design and its role in global change. Outlining a vital framework for designing for impoverished and disaster-stricken communities, this informative guide explores the integration of culture, art, architecture, economy, ecology, health, and education. Experts on land, health, water, housing, education, and planning weigh in with best practices and critical considerations during the design process, and discussion of the environmental considerations and local materials/skills will broaden your understanding of this nuanced specialty. Richly illustrated, this guide combines graphic documentation of projects, maps, and data-tracking developments from Asia, Africa, and the Americas to underscore the complexities of this emerging and evolving field.

The ambition to provide humanitarian architecture for areas in acute need is driving design innovation worldwide among both practitioners and educators. This book provides an indispensable resource for those engaged in the search for the sustainable inclusion of cultural code and compassion as a technology for design innovation.

• Learn how to approach the problem of humanitarian design
• Understand the cultural factors that play into development
• Develop a new framework for planning post-disaster design
• See how humanitarian design is pushing the industry forward

While still in college, students are being given the opportunity to directly participate in programmes that provide vital facilities for communities abroad. While these international initiatives remain largely ad hoc, this book provides parameters for engagement and establishes best practices for approaching these projects with a global perspective. With expert insight and practical strategies on the ground, Ground Rules in Humanitarian Design is an essential resource for architects at any level.

Alice Min Soo Chun is assistant professor of design and material culture at Parsons The New School for Design, with a focus on material technology and renewable energy. She is CEO and president of FAARM, a non-profit organisation, dedicated to humanitarian design efforts worldwide and co-founder of Solight Design, a design startup in New York City. She has taught architecture at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Arizona, and has been building award-winning community outreach projects. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Architectural Record, Dwell and the Journal of Architectural Education, the Herald Tribune and the New York Observer.

Irene Brisson is a designer and educator interested in the development and implementation of equitable design processes. As vice-president of FAARM she has led design and research projects in southern Haiti since 2010. An alumna of Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has taught at Parsons the New School for Design and Bowling Green State University and is a doctoral student in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.