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Tiny Houses: A Big Idea to End Homelessness

Linda Federico-O'Murchu

February 26, 2014 |

NBC News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

While billions of taxpayer dollars are allocated each year to support shelters and social service initiatives, homelessness remains a persistent problem in the U.S. - in 2013, an estimated 610,000 people slept without shelter every night. All over the country, people are building "tiny homes" to give to the homeless, providing them with shelter, a bathroom, and a kitchen for less then the cost of a shelter.

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As Detroit Flounders, Its Art Scene Flourishes

Courtney Balestier

August 06, 2013 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In 2013, Detroit filed for bankruptcy because of a poor economy. While the city’s industrial businesses have floundered, the art scene has thrived, bringing in new sources of income through art galleries and investments in contemporary art. This new art scene is one factor to measure Detroit’s recovery and prospects of growth for the future.

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The pop-up designs changing the city landscape

Rowan Moore

August 03, 2013 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

Pop-ups, temporary constructions intended to enliven public places, can often be used as temporary structures and events as marketing tools, and as camouflage for their larger and less charming permanent developments. But young architects in London, their talent and energy outrunning their employment opportunities, initiate, design and build pop-ups as glimpses of what a better city – more open, more social, more pleasurable, more surprising – might be

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Seniors Flex Creative Muscles In Retirement Arts Colonies

Ina Jaffe

July 05, 2013 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Dissatisfied with the opportunities for residents of assisted living facilities to engage in creative pursuits, Tim Carpenter developed senior ‘art colonies’ that provided writing, performance, and visual arts classes. Equipped with studios and a performance space, artists work in the facility and double as instructors to residents. Residents are encouraged to set goals, take risks, and commit to learning new skills.

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Hospital uses power of architecture to promote healing

Frances Bula

May 06, 2013 |

The Globe and Mail |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Sechelt, British Columbia

The architecture of a hospital can have huge effects on those inside it: the strain that old hospital buildings put on nurses, who spend too much of their time walking from one supply room to another, and on patients, whose already frail health is tested by living in rooms with one to three other patients, by the noise of the hospital, by infections. St. Mary’s Hospital in Sechelt, B.C., opened a new $44-million dollar building that has made the inside quality of life and care better.

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Will Biomimicry Offer a Way Forward, Post-Sandy?

Sarah Amandolare

January 04, 2013 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Haiti, Port Au Prince

By looking at the ways plants and animals adapt to their environment, architects are using “the emerging science of biomimicry” to make buildings more resilient. For instance, an orphanage in Haiti was built to store water much like the native Kapok tree. A honeycomb structure inspired an office tower in South Korea. This might be one strategy to prevent more weather damage in the future.

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A Vision of Vertical Slums in Mumbai

Mark Bergen

December 11, 2012 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Mumbai

For a megacity with more than 18 million people in its metro area, Mumbai, India is not a particularly vertical city. Many of its inhabitants squeeze into low-rise slums crammed into the urban space. But an ongoing slum rehabilitation program seeks to clear these corrugated metal shacks and relocate the slum-dwellers to new high rises.

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Fighting Crime With Architecture in Medellín, Colombia

Michael Kimmelman

May 18, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Medellín

Medellin, Colombia has looked to architecture to help combat its high homicide rate and other problems. Over the past few decades there have been massive public architecture development, transit improvements, creation of public spaces that have all contributed to renewing this city.

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Can Democracy Work in Chicago?

Deanna Isaacs

September 16, 2010 |

The Chicago Reader |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

A Chicago Alderman experimented with participatory budgeting, where residents decide how some of their tax money will be spent, by allowing 49th Ward residents to determine how to spend $1.3 million in the district. Residents selected 14 projects, including commissioning murals, creating a dog park and community gardens, purchasing solar-powered garbage compactors, and repaving streets. All projects are moving forward. Over 200 mural proposals were received, which the Alderman’s office narrowed down to 24 choices for community members to vote on. 12 will be funded by the city with stipends for the artists.

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