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Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses To Humanitarian Crises
 
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Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses To Humanitarian Crises [Paperback]

Architecture for Humanity (Author), Kate Stohr (Editor), Cameron Sinclair (Editor)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 15, 2006
The greatest humanitarian challenge we face today is that of providing shelter. Currently, one in seven people lives in a slum or refugee camp, and more than 3,000,000,000 people--nearly half the world's population--do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation. The physical design of our homes, neighborhoods and communities shapes every aspect of our lives. Yet too often architects are desperately needed in the places where they can least be afforded.
Edited by Architecture for Humanity and now on its fifth printing, Design Like You Give a Damn is a compendium of innovative projects from around the world that demonstrate the power of design to improve lives. The first book to bring the best of humanitarian architecture and design to the printed page, Design Like You Give a Damn offers a history of the movement toward socially conscious design, and showcases more than 80 contemporary solutions to such urgent needs as basic shelter, healthcare, education and access to clean water, energy and sanitation.
Design Like You Give a Damn is an indispensable resource for designers and humanitarian organizations charged with rebuilding after disaster and engaged in the search for sustainable development. It is also a call to action to anyone committed to building a better world. (20061116)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Heavy on context and images, light on celebrity names, Design Like You Give a Damn is a bracing reminder that there's more to architecture than museums and posh private homes. Instead, the founders of the group Architecture for Humanity round up 77 nimble solutions to real-life problems: There are fiberglass domes for the homeless of Los Angeles, a schoolhouse in Burkina Faso with an arced steel roof that insulates the clay brick classrooms below -- even a water pump in South Africa that is powered by children playing on a merry-go-round. Truly inspirational. (San Francisco Chronicle 20060716)

A book that is lovely in every sense of the word.. ...makes clear just how much talent is currently going to waste designing McMansions. (Bill McKibben New York Review of Books 20060907)

Design Like You Give A Damn screams its message in its title. Good design is not a luxury, but a necessity. (The Scotsman 20060706)

This book brings forth the values of sustainability and diversity in a beautiful way-values which are as essential to our housing as they are to food we eat. (Alice Waters Chez Panisse Foundation 20060901)

Design like you give a Damn is truly an important work-its lesson is that architecture and design are not about being on the cover of last week's New York Times Magazine but about making a difference in people's lives. (Treehugger 20061027)

If you care about the future we're building, you ought to own a copy of Design Like You Give a Damn (Alex Steffen World Changing )

...a 336-page love letter to architects worldwide who provide pro-bono design services to communities that have survived war, government oppression and natural disasters. It's also an antidote to apathy. (Leilani Labong 7X7 Magazine )

From the Publisher

"Architecture for Humanity has a clear goal: to improve the lives of billions people worldwide, one sustainable building at a time. And while the mission may sound overly ambitious, AFH is on its way. The group...has become the premier nonprofit organization for disaster relief housing programs."
- Wired

Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Metropolis Books; 1st edition (January 15, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1933045256
  • ISBN-13: 978-1933045252
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 78 people found the following review helpful
Soon to be dog-eared September 13, 2006
I've read this book from cover to cover - only the second architecture book I've finished all the way through. The first 'Good deeds, good design' (ed. Bryan Bell) is very similar in its exploration of sustainable innovative design. I've been waiting awhile for something as inspirational as that book, and 'Design Like You Give A Damn' doesn't disappoint.

While covering some of the same projects as 'Good Deeds, Good Design' it looks at quite a few more as well. The emphasis is on cultural, rather than environmental, sustainability (but the latter isn't ignored).

The graphics make it as accessible as a coffee table book (without the shallowness) and the information is clear and easy to read. Best of all, it avoids the self indulgent, self-obsessed rhetoric that seems to be so common in architectural books.

After finishing each section of this book I'm left with so many questions that the book couldn't possibly answer. How do I get involved or start one of these projects? What tools were used in the participation stage? (In this respect 'Good Deeds' is a bit more helpful?) How exactly does the construction work for the adobe huts that are lit on fire from the inside?

'Design Like You Give A Damn' promotes a philosophy of initiative, resourcefulness and not waiting for things to be handed to you. As such, the greatest compliment I can pay this book (and its authors) is that I finished it with lots of questions and enthusiasm.
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful
I am a community planner working in sustainable design. I have a library of books that pitch the green, the innovative , mod construction, etc.

Most of them are, at the end of the day, fluff... many promoting a small group of architects that get together to publish a sort of self serving tome.

THIS BOOK IS THE EXCEPTION! It is sure to become the standard as a resource for inspired design world wide, and the way it is constructed is brilliant, with the design and the technical well illustrated, along with an engaging background story of how the project came about, what were the challenges, etc.

I am purchasing copies of this book for associates so they can get the benefit of this remarkable overview of creative, sustainable, and innovative work being done world-wide by designers, tinkers , inventors, and creative folks that really do Give a Damn

I hope they issue a new edition every couple of years.

Seriously, its like the original Whole Earth in the important and liberating information contained... an important new resource

Buy this Book.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
An encyclopedia of inspiration September 3, 2006
By A W
To echo what some of the other reviewers have written, this book is really marvelous inspiration. It describes a series of projects, most built, that are mostly low tech, low cost, people-centered. It is mainly architecture (buildings), but highlights a few projects that fall more into the 'appropriate tech' catagory: pumps, water carriers, solar stills, bush toilets...

Like most architecture books, this isn't a technical guide, but it is a well written, inspirational look at a few dozen examples of architecture and design applied to their highest good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
very didatic
there are good books on architecture for disaster situations, but I found this one the most didatic. Read more
Published 4 months ago by mag
Not a design manual, but not a coffee table book either!
This book definitely covers a lot of ground. It's essentially a book of precedent studies, with just enough information about each for a lightbulb or two to light in your head,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rachel Oranger
Humanitarian Crises
This was a book that I would recommend to everyone who wants to have there eyes opened to the world in which we live. Read more
Published 15 months ago by M. Chavez
Better than I thought it would be
This book was a gift for my brother who is an architecture student. I flipped through it before wrapping it up, and I was very impressed! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Katherine M. Dewees
Humanitarian Architecture
A great book put together by a great organization (Architecture for Humanity). After 2 introductions by the founders of Architecture for Humanity the book is made up of profiles of... Read more
Published on February 14, 2010 by M. George
lots of specific info
I've skimmed through this. It has beautiful pictures along with specific info on what is involved in the projects. Read more
Published on January 13, 2010 by J. Greene
Great Book!
I love Architecture for Humanity and I keep up with their work. This book is very interesting and worth having.
Published on December 26, 2009 by Tatiana A. Alencar
Book Review
Book Review: Design Like You Give a Damn

Design Like You Give a Damn seeks to transport design from the elite realm where it primarily exists to the realm of... Read more
Published on December 8, 2009 by Susan Prater
makes a good read
This was a mother's day gift from my husband. I am a 3-d artist and as I have been "into " the topic of shelter and portable housing for years, this book was right for me. Read more
Published on June 11, 2009 by Nancy Andrew
A Necessary Read
This is an honest review of many humanitarian architectural efforts throughout the world. I found it inspirational and very helpful.
Published on March 7, 2009 by Laurie A. Christopher
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Which is better: Good Deeds, Good Design or Design Like You Give a Damn? 1 Oct 30, 2010
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