We are excited to hear that Sergio Palleroni, Portland State University professor and one of our own visiting professors, has played a leading role in a new partnership between PSU and the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture de Paris to design and build two orphanages in Haiti.
For Palleroni that is only the beginning; his aim being to “create a program to teach students how to think about addressing issues such as reconstruction in areas devastated by natural or man-made disasters – hurricanes, earthquakes, mass migration because of war, and extreme economic hardship.” He calls it public interest architecture. The plan is for the orphanages to be example projects in order to enable the program to be extended through additional partnerships.
As the cofounder of BaSic Initiative, a student design-build program, Palleroni believes in rooting the humanitarian practice at the academic level.“The university can provide a broad base and support network for the topic. It is a real sustaining element… We’re not going to solve it. But if we provide insight and forums and intelligence, and educate young people – out of there will come people who will solve it.”
Read the entire article at DJC Oregon and more at Portland Architecture Blog
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