Healthcare

How do we democratize design? Dr. Silver of the Centre for Vision in the Developing World shares how his groundbreaking design for self-adjusting glasses can address a serious lack of optometrists in the developing world.

Healthcare

55-56 | Designing for the Future, Part 1 & 2

How do we democratize design? Diébédo Francis Kéré discusses the origins of his practice, and how good design builds community.

Community Development
Environment

Architecture for Humanity

2013 Prize Winner

CSF Grantee

Vision Award Recipient

What is the role of architects in communities in need? Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, recipients of the first Curry Stone Design Prize Vision Award, have been committed to social impact design since co-founding Architecture for Humanity in 1999.

Community Development
Conflict and Disaster

BuildX Studio (formerly Orkidstudio)

How do we design with scarcity? BuildX Studio (formerly Orkidstudio) is a Nairobi-based architectural, engineering, and construction company creating real estate projects for positive social and environmental impact.

Advocacy
Environment

Centre for Vision in the Developing World

Can design overcome an optometrist shortage in the developing world? Lack of access to eye care professionals is a serious problem in the developing world. Dr. Joshua Silver designed inexpensive eyeglasses that can be self-adjusted to the correct prescription.

Healthcare

Design for Extreme Affordability

Can social change be taught? Design for Extreme Affordability is a graduate course offered by Stanford University where students are asked to design products and services which will change the lives of the world’s poorest citizens.

Advocacy
Healthcare

Equalize Health (Formerly D-Rev)

Can high quality, low cost medical equipment be broadly available to the world’s poorest? Equalize Health (formerly D-Rev) is a not-for-profit medical technology company working to prevent people lacking access to treatment from suffering treatable conditions.

Advocacy
Healthcare

Foldit

Can an online puzzle game crowdsource solutions to preventing and curing disease? Foldit is an online game where players contribute to scientific research via an addictive puzzle game. Crowdsourcing is Foldit’s success: the creative problem-solving of thousands of people refines complex computations.

Advocacy
Healthcare

Francis Kéré

Can an architect truly straddle both first world success and community development in the developing world? Diébédo Francis Kéré is a Burkinabe architect based in Berlin, Germany, whose work straddles community development in the developing world and award-winning architecture in the first world.

Community Development
Environment

Himanshu Parikh

What happens when gravity replaces modern technology as a tool to design urban infrastructure? Himanshu Parikh is an Indian engineer who developed of the concept of ‘slum networking,’ which stems from how the traditional organization of cities was based on natural features such as topography and gravity.

Environment
Healthcare
Housing

MASS Design Group

2012 Prize Winner

Why invest in architecture in resource-limited settings? Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS Design) is a Boston-based architectural practice focusing on advocacy, the education of the next generation of architects, and the impacts of architecture on human lives.

Conflict and Disaster
Healthcare

Mohammed Rezwan

How can design help flood prone communities to function when facilities and resources are under water? Founded by Mohammed Rezwan, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha is a nonprofit that works to support the environment and people affected by climate change-induced flooding in Bangladesh by transforming waterways into pathways for education, information, and technology.

Advocacy
Community Development
Environment

Myna Mahila Foundation

CSF Grantee

How can education be supported through design? Myna Mahila Foundation charges women to speak about menstruation and empowers them through education and micro-entrepreneurship.

Advocacy
Healthcare

Public Architecture

How can standard design firms be supported in pro-bono work? San Francisco based Public Architecture formalizes pro bono service within architecture, interiors and landscape design. Their flagship program, 1+, supports firms in donating 1% of their time to pro-bono work.

Community Development

Qigong Sensory Training Institute

CSF Grantee

What is the role of parent education in the healthcare of autistic children? Qigong Sensory Therapy is a revolutionary approach to treating autism developed by integrating Western and Chinese medicine.

Advocacy
Healthcare

Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)

2010 Prize Winner

Can menstrual pads contribute to economic opportunities for women? Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) has designed a menstrual pad made from banana tree fibers—a local, renewable resource that SHE sources from two (largely female) farming co-ops in the eastern region of the country.

Healthcare

TAMassociati/Emergency

2013 Prize Winner