Public Architecture
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Public Architecture is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission, through its national initiative "The 1%," [1] is to encourage and inspire architecture and design firms to donate at least 1% of their billable hours to the public good through pro bono work. Public Architecture has identified several public interest projects that tackle social issues, and then raises funding and support to realize them as model projects. Public Architecture acts as a catalyst for public discourse through education, advocacy, and the design of public spaces and amenities [2]. Public Architecture was founded in 2002 by architect John Peterson, and is based in San Francisco.
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[edit] The 1% pro bono program of Public Architecture
Donating time towards pro bono work is common in the legal profession [3], and is encouraged by the American Bar Association, but no parallel structure existed for design professionals before The 1% program, although some design firms had donated time informally to clients in need. The 1% program formalizes this process, and gives visibility to firms that dedicate 1% of their billable hours each year to pro bono service. The 1% program functions much like a member organization, adding new firms to a list of over 160 firms that have pledged. The 1% program's website highlights commendable firms that have donated a significant amount of time to take on large projects, among these the Robin Hood Foundation's L!brary Initiative[4], and Peterson Architects' renovation of office space for the Homeless Prenatal Program, a San Francisco nonprofit.
[edit] Advocacy & Design Demonstration Projects
[edit] Day Labor Station
The Day Labor Station is a prototypical structure, which will be used to house day laborers as they wait for employers to provide them with temporary work. The Station is a flexible structure that is designed to be deployed at informal day labor locations. The structure utilizes green building materials and strategies and will exist primarily off-the-grid. The design is based on findings from a series of interviews with day laborers conducted by Public Architecture, and is meant to respond to the needs and desires of the day laborers as clients. The structure is designed to be flexible enough to serve various uses, including as an employment center, meeting space, and classroom. A portion of the first prototype of the Day Labor Station is on display at the “Design for the Other 90%” exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York from May 4 through September 23, 2007.
[edit] Sidewalk Plazas
The Sidewalk Plazas project is Public Architecture's proposal to create parking-space sized open spaces, increasing the amount of open and green space in San Francisco's former-light-industrial-turned-mixed-use South of Market Area and related urban areas across the country. This plan has earned support from the San Francisco Planning Department, Redevelopment Agency, and Transportation Authority, and funds are being sought to implement a series of Sidewalk Plazas along Folsom Street in SoMa.
[edit] ScrapHouse
ScrapHouse was temporary demonstration house, constructed and displayed in front of San Francisco City Hall as a part of World Environment Day in 2005. It was constructed completely from salvage materials donated by local businesses, and was built in six weeks by a volunteer work-force. Emmy Award-winning documentarian Anna Fitch conceived of the project, and filmed the entire process for a documentary film that aired on the National Geographic Channel in September 2006.
