thinking about
---
Originally Published on the Huffington Post on May 28, 2009
---
If Hurricane Katrina taught us the aid community anything it was that when the perceived systems of support broke down the local residents turned to organizations and community groups willing to step up - whether they had the capacity of not. In many areas along the Gulf Coast it was not a disparate band of 'do-gooders' but a highly networked group of organizations collaborated and tag-teamed on everything from housing reconstruction, volunteer coordination and social service support.
---
NB: Originally published on The Huffington Post
---
On Sunday I sat in a small room with 40 or so Young Global Leaders during the 2009 World Economic Forum on the Middle East. Among us were Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and a host of international and regional figures. This was the last event after four days in the Dead Sea talking about the regional economic outlook, Obamas upcoming trip (with Valerie Garrett), sustainable development to low-cost housing in the region (disclosure: I spoke on the later).
So we are currently working on some interesting limited edition items to honor and celebrate Architecture for Humanitys' 10th Anniversary.
Beyond messenger bags with Rickshaw Bagworks and social venture Lulan Artisans we are producing a series of 10 Moleskine Folios, each by different 'architects' who have shaped the built environment.
One of the first to be created will include the artwork of one of my heroes and early mentors Samuel 'Sambo' Mockbee, co-founder of the Rural Studio and all round agitator. Sadly he's since departed us but his family were gracious enough to allow us to use a piece of his artwork to recognize our important milestone and his contribution to its' birth.
A second huge thanks goes to Eames Demetrois, who is letting us tip the hat to another of my personal heroes Charles and Ray Eames but allowing us to use the phrase 'Powers of Ten'. For me the scale of impact is an important and ongoing investigation. Do you create a structure that inspires millions or a million inspiring structures.
On April 9th a debate was held at the Barbican in London on Ethics in Architecture. The panel was to consist of Sean Griffiths of FAT (replacing Massimiliano Fuksas), Charles Jencks, Winy Maas, Zaha Hadid and myself. Zaha pulled out a few days before and was replaced by Patrik Schumacher. Then the day of the event he pulled out (She was on a last minute trip to Dubai, He was in DC) leaving a junior architect to represent.
