Over the last decade, we’ve seen the rapid rise of online architecture magazines devoted to showcasing the crisp IwanBaan-esque photographs of contemporary buildings and stylish interiors that marked the starchitecture era. Sites like Architizer took this to another level with user-generated content, personal profiles and geolocated projects. Now, in times of global crises and architectural existentialism, a new platform adopts the open-source model to focus specifically on sustainable development projects. A sort of Open Architecture Network-meets-Architizer, if you will.
Although sustainability and architecture should by definition (and practice) be one and the same, it can still be difficult to search for or even find genuinely worthy projects on most architecture sites. A.I.D. (Architecture in Development) was launched last year as a repository for sustainable projects–mainly in cooperation and development–through which to exchange local knowledge and expertise. Its mission is to “re-connect sustainable development to architecture by developing a user-generated knowledge platform.”
The site enables profile pages, project portfolios, a geo-located map of projects and features both staff and user-contributed articles. An “experts” section features the profiles of people, firms or organizations that offer their expertise in a certain area.
“It is essential to understand the local social, cultural, economic and environmental contexts in order to come up with sustainable architectural solutions. A.I.D. invites people and organizations of the globe to contribute and share their expertise and experiences. Not only to document it, but also to exchange local knowledge, creativity and to bring about new perspectives.”
We’ll be keeping an eye on A.I.D. for fresh new content and hope to see an increasing community of architects, experts and enthusiasts sharing local knowledge on how to improve lives through architecture.
Learn more about A.I.D. in this video or visit the website.