The nonprofit design services firm Architecture for Humanity (AFH) has grown from founders Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr in 1999 to a staff of 28 people in 2012. Their latest publication, Design Like You Give a Damn [2], is the follow-up to their 2006 book of the same name, which presented about 75 socially sustainable projects around the world--a formula they continue with the new title, but on a larger scale echoing their growth.

Over 100 projects highlight practical solutions for disaster reconstruction, housing, education, healthcare, recreation, clean water, and other means for "building change from the ground up." Well-known projects like the High Line in New York City are actually overshadowed by the numerous smaller budget projects that address very particular needs, such as the post-Katrina Biloxi Model Home Program, Habitat for Humanity's Tassafaronga Village in Oakland, and Chicago's Fresh Moves Mobile Market (a project with AFH involvement).

AFH's expansion in its first dozen years also includes four regional offices (San Francisco, Haiti, South Africa, Japan) and over 60 local chapters in a networked model that has led to the construction of projects impacting 2 million people. Last year AFH acquired Worldchanging and has merged the latter's database of sustainable solution with its own Open Architecture Network to create a "robust and informed network to bring solutions to global challenges to life."

Design Like You Give a Damn [2] is a Character Approved document of AFH's ongoing efforts to share those design solutions for the betterment of people in need. Let's hope they keep growing!

[Image: Architecture for Humanity]