Architects Without Borders Canada

turnmeon & OzQuest seek the design of a system to deliver water that addresses current problems associated with water supply, quality and use in the rural regions of Nepal.

This competition seeks a multi-disciplinary approach, and encourages architects, industrial designers, landscape architects, engineers and the like to work together to design a system to deliver water from a natural spring site to a localised tap, filter water to improve water quality, store water to ensure regular supply, educate users about water management.

Designs should consider the site, cultural context, local skills and materials and be community driven, low cost, low tech, low maintenance and be sustainable.

Architects Without Borders Canada is encouraging multi-disciplinary teams to submit competition entries, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in forming an AWB team.

Contest deadline is November 12, 2010.  For more information visit turnmeON.

Miles to Educate is a collection of images depicting a service learning course offered by the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. Students traveled to Northern Ghana to build a girl's boarding house with local builders. While learning about design and construction, the participants gained skills in cross-cultural communication and world citizenship.

The gallery will be open from September 10 until September 24, 2010.  See the calendar for more details.

Friends-International (FI) is a non-profit organization committed to building better futures for street children living in South East Asia and beyond. In 2006, FI purchased the land and buildings known as home to their main centre. Situated in the heart of Phnom Penh, it serves 1,800 children per day as an educational and healthcare facility. This location also provides offices for FI’s outreach staff serving an estimated 2,000 street children and their families through family strengthening programs. The only hitch is that the buildings are in poor condition and that all but two will need to be replaced in the near future. Sebastien Marot, co-founder and International Coordinator of FI has asked MID Studio 1 and Architects Without Borders Canada to work with architect Gabriel Marot on a preliminary design program and proposal for the new campus.

This project will begin as a collaboration between the MID Studio One, the architectural team in Paris, and the client. We will be asking AWB members for their assistance as mentors, designers, and researchers. An exhibition of the work and fundraising event was held in late January 2009.

Client: Friends-International (Phnom Penh)
Partners: Architect Gabriel Merot (Paris), FAUM MID Students
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Timeline: Sep 2008–Sep 2009
Type: Campus plan/conceptual development
Floor Area:
Humanitarian Issue: Children living + working on the street
Design Team: MID Studio 1 (2008), AWB members
Mentor: Kelley Beaverford
Status: In progress

Links:
Friends-International web site
Film: What I See When I Close My Eyes