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  • What is Social Impact Design?
    • Overview
    • Most Urgent Questions
  • About the Foundation
    • Overview
    • Initiatives
      • Community Design Agency
    • People
    • Awards
      • Overview
      • Grantees
      • Curry Stone Design Prize Winners
      • Social Design Circle Honorees
    • News
    • Connect with Us
  • Practices
  • Explore by Keyword
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  • Advocacy

  • Community Development

  • Conflict and Disaster

  • Environment

  • Healthcare

  • Housing

  • Resilience

  • Urban Strategies

Videos

From 2008 to 2016, CSF produced short films about each practice that won the Curry Stone Design Prize. These are a detailed snapshot of each winner and its work at the time the film was made, and offer insights into the process of social impact design.

Anna Heringer

2009 Prize Winner
Video
Is sustainability about working within scarcity or finding natural abundance? Anna Heringer is an award-winning leader in architecture who utilizes the skills of the communities she works in as well as low-tech, sustainable materials like mud and bamboo.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development

Antonio Scarponi

2008 Prize Winner
Video
Are you ready to co-opt mass consumerism? Dr. Antonio Scarponi is an architect, designer, educator, and the founder of Conceptual Devices, a Zurich-based office with the mission to develop design strategies with social, economic, and poetic impact.
  • Environment

Architecture for Humanity

2013 Prize Winner
CSF Grantee
Vision Award Recipient
Video
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

Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée

2011 Prize Winner
Podcast
Video
Can a new urban future grow out of a vacant lot? Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée is a collective of architects that transforms urban spaces. It is recognized as an engine for engaging citizens in shaping their own cities through experimentation and renewal.
  • Urban Strategies

Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)

2012 Prize Winner
Video
Can design increase civic participation? The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) collaborates with designers, educators, advocates, students, and communities to make educational tools that demystify complex policy and planning issues.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development

Echeverri & Fajardo

2009 Prize Winner
Video
Can improving the built environment in impoverished neighborhoods transform a city? Fajardo and Echeverri implemented a bold program in Medellín. By training architects to build parks and public buildings in impoverished neighborhoods, Medellin was transformed from “world’s deadliest city” into a vibrant, livable place.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Elemental

2010 Prize Winner
Video
Can public housing be designed to encourage resident ownership? ELEMENTAL engages in projects ranging from housing to public space to objects to buildings, covering a wide spectrum of interests. One of the firm´s hallmarks is participatory design, in which the architects work closely with the client and users.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

FrontlineSMS

2011 Prize Winner
Podcast
Video
Can SMS technology be harnessed as a powerful information dissemination tool? Frontline SMS is software that acts as an information dissemination service for text messages. It uses cell service, not internet access, to create communication networks and exchange information.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development

Hsieh Ying-Chun

2011 Prize Winner
Podcast
Video
How can a community contribute to a post-disaster rebuilding process? Hsieh Ying-Chun is a Taiwanese architect who works throughout Asia training villagers to build locally-appropriate dwellings in response to earthquake devastation.
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Environment

Hunnarshala

2013 Prize Winner
Video
How can artisans build a resilient community? Hunnarshala works with artisans to combine traditional building techniques with innovation. They are also engaged in training and empowering artisan entrepreneurs, bringing them into the mainstream of construction.
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Environment
  • Housing

Jeanne van Heeswijk

2012 Prize Winner
Podcast
Video
Can art mend neighborhoods? Jeanne van Heeswijk is an artist who facilitates the creation of dynamic and diversified public spaces. Her long-scale community projects question art’s autonomy by combining performative actions, discussions, and other forms of organizing and pedagogy to assist communities to take control of their futures.
  • Advocacy
  • Urban Strategies

Liter of Light

2012 Prize Winner
Video
Can a plastic bottle bring light where electricity is scarce? Philippines based Liter of light is a global, open-source, grassroots movement committed to providing affordable, sustainable light to people with limited or no access to electricity.
  • Community Development

Luyanda Mpahlwa

2008 Prize Winner
Video
Can a community be built with sand? Luyanda Mpahlwa is part of a vanguard of designers reshaping and re-envisioning South Africa’s post-apartheid architectural landscape.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Housing

Marjetica Potrč

2008 Prize Winner
Video
Can participatory design inspire sustainable prosperity? Marjetica Potrč is an artist and architect who works on community-based projects characterized by participatory design and a concern for sustainability.
  • Community Development
  • Environment

MASS Design Group

2012 Prize Winner
Video
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

Maya Pedal

2010 Prize Winner
Video
Can bicycles power essential tasks and support microbusinesses? In rural Guatemala, energy sources are scarce. Maya Pedal repurposes donated bicycles into pedal-powered machines that can blend food, grind corn and lift water from wells, without requiring electricity.
  • Community Development

Proximity Designs

2013 Prize Winner
CSF Grantee
Video
Can design help raise the income of small hold farmers in Myanmar? Proximity Designs is a not-for-profit social enterprise working to reduce poverty for rural families in Myanmar.
  • Community Development

RIWAQ

2012 Prize Winner
Video
Can restoration work in Palestine reinforce cultural identity? Founded in 1991 by Dr. Suad Amiry and a group of fellow architects and intellectuals, RIWAQ is a Ramallah-based non-profit organization that protects and develops architectural heritage in Palestine.
  • Advocacy
  • Conflict and Disaster

Rural Urban Framework (RUF)

2015 Prize Winner
Video
Can design address China’s rural to urban migration? Rural Urban Frameworks (RUF) is a research and design collaborative working to help recover and rebuild villages across China that have been affected by the massive rural-to-urban migrations.
  • Community Development
  • Housing

Shawn Frayne

2008 Prize Winner
Video
Can wind energy be harnessed with a handheld device? Shawn Frayne invented a nonturbine wind-powered generator that [could] help people in poor communities power lamps, keep small vaccine refrigerators cool and charge cell phones for relatively little cost.
  • Environment

SPARC

2016 Prize Winner
Vision Award Recipient
Video
What can slum dwellers teach design professionals? SPARC organizes, legitimizes and advocates for India’s urban poor, seeking improved living conditions and advancements in rights. SPARC believes that with structural support, the urban poor can make their destinies.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development

Studios Kabako

2014 Prize Winner
Video
Can art transform a nation torn apart by conflict and strife? Studios Kabako’s cultural programs and urban interventions create a network for artistic expression in a city isolated by war, political corruption, civil strife, and poverty. In addition, through international commissions and performances, the studio informs an international audience of the geopolitical consequences of postcolonial instability and the exploitation of the Central Africa region.
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster

Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)

2010 Prize Winner
Video
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
Video
How can architecture bring dignity in war-torn regions? Studio TAMassociati is a nonprofit architecture firm that specializes in designing healthcare facilities in war-torn areas, highlighting the connection between the built environment and the basic needs of life.
  • Community Development
  • Environment

Transition Network

2009 Prize Winner
Video
Can your neighborhood become a self-sufficient community? The Transition Network is an organization whose role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support, and train communities as they create initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.
  • Community Development
  • Environment

Wes Janz

2008 Prize Winner
Video
How can designers address poverty in American cities? Dr. Wesley Janz is a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Ball State University, Indiana and the founder of OneSmallProject. Currently, he is working to draw attention to the issues central to the U.S. prison system.
  • Advocacy
  • Environment
  • Housing
  • Urban Strategies

Connect With Us currystonefdn

Congratulations to Yasmeen Lari (@barefootsocialar Congratulations to Yasmeen Lari (@barefootsocialarchitecture), founder of Heritage Foundation of Pakistan (@heritagefoundationpk) on receiving the 2023 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture! As a guest on the @socialdesigninsights Podcast, she talked about the role architects can play in reviving vernacular architecture and empowering vulnerable communities, especially women, to build better and safer structures. Click on the link in the bio to listen to her podcast episode Streaming on @spotify @itunes @googlepodcast @iheartradio @podcastspreaker @stitcherpodcasts Reposted from @socialdesigninsights Images Credits: @heritagefoundationpk #SDI #Podcast #SocialDesign #SocialDesignInsights #CurryStone #CSDP #CSF #women #architecture #architect #architecturalhistory #award #disaster #relief #zerocarbon #sustainable #sustainabledesign #Pakistan #Karachi #HeritageFoundationofPakistan #YasmeenLari #ArchitectsinPakistan #ArchitectureinPakistan #JaneDrewPrize #FuturArc #womeninarchitecture #womenarchitects #vernaculararchitecture #RIBA #ribaroyalgoldmedal
Reposted from @govandiartsfestival We are ready fo Reposted from @govandiartsfestival We are ready for you guys! Come be a part of the celebration from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM everyday until the 19th February 2023! Govandi Arts festival is part of the ‘India/UK Together, a Season of Culture’, taking place in India and the UK from June 2022 to March 2023. Partners: Community Design Agency @communitydesignagency , Streets Reimagined @streets_reimagined01 , Lamplighters CIC Arts @lamplighterarts.cic With British Council @inbritish #IndiaUKTogether #SeasonofCulture #CultureConnectsUs #govandiartsfestival #govandiartsfestival2023 #celebratingcommunities #creatingjoy #govandi #mumbai
Reposted from @govandiartsfestival 7 Days to go! Reposted from @govandiartsfestival 7 Days to go! Come be a part of the celebration from 15th to 19th February 2023! Govandi Arts festival is part of the ‘India/UK Together, a Season of Culture’, taking place in India and the UK from June 2022 to March 2023. Partners: Community Design Agency @communitydesignagency , Streets Reimagined @streets_reimagined01 , Lamplighters CIC Arts @lamplighterarts.cic With British Council @inbritish #IndiaUKTogether #SeasonofCulture #CultureConnectsUs #govandiartsfestival #govandiartsfestival2023 #celebratingcommunities #creatingjoy #govandi #mumbai
Excited to share that @communitydesignagency, the Excited to share that @communitydesignagency, the social design studio in Mumbai which is supported by CSF, is hosting an Arts Festival in the marginalised neighborhood of Govandi in Mumbai from the 15th to 19th of February. The @govandiartsfestival is a platform for the youth and residents of Govandi, with whom CDA has been working for the past 6 years, to hone their skills and celebrate the talent and joy that resides in their neighborhood. As one of the most neglected neighborhoods of Mumbai, Govandi and its residents have been at the receiving end of a lot of stigma, misconceptions and are deprived of social and economic opportunities. This Festival is a way for Govandi to connect with the rest of Mumbai and encourage greater involvement in its growth and development. Supported by a grant received by the British Council @inbritish as a part of their India/UK Season of Culture, and in partnership with Bristol based @streets_reimagined01 and @lamplighterarts.cic, this Festival will be a culmination of five 6 month long mentorships for 45 mentees, three 4 month long artist residencies for contextual art installations and a lantern parade with the entire neighborhood. Image 2: Lanterns being prepared with the residents for the parade Image 3: The theatre cohort in a movement-based workshop Image 4: The photography mentees showcasing their works in a small preview exhibition for the neighborhood Image 5: Artist Resident Nisha Nair Gupta recording oral narratives of the community's lives and struggles Image 6: Artist Resident Jerry Antony creating a stop motion animation video with the young children of Govandi Image 7: The rap and music cohort engaging with other artists at an event Image 8: The entire cohort attending a separate Arts Festival in Mumbai Image 9: The children of Govandi extending an invitation to everyone to join them next week!

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Curry Stone Foundation - Home

The Curry Stone Foundation (CSF) is the brainchild of architect, urban planner and developer Clifford Curry, FAIA, and the historical archeologist Dr. Delight Stone, RPA. It was inspired by a shared conviction that design thinking and design actions can—and should, serve those wishing to contribute to community vitality and human dignity. Most of all, we believe that design should be available to those most in need.

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REQUESTS FOR FUNDING

Marginalized communities around the world are still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19. The looming recession and geo-political issues have also been a major cause of concern for all.

Curry Stone Foundation continues to receive numerous requests for support. Many of these causes have significant merit, and we understand the need is great.

We continue to honor our prior commitments, to projects in India and elsewhere, who have needed additional support to reach completion. Since these projects impact fragile, marginalized populations, and are at the crucial stage of scaling, our funds are committed to them.

For these reasons, we will not be able to assist financially with any immediate requests for funds.

Appreciatively,

Curry Stone Foundation

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