April 2008  Dear Friends of Public Architecture:
The close of March marks the 3 year anniversary of The 1% program, and has the staff at Public Architecture looking retrospectively at its short history while planning for the future. The tremendous growth of the program accelerated in particular in the last few months beginning with the release of version 2.0 of the website and its integrated matching component – matching nonprofits in need of design services with participating 1% firms - along with the publication of The 1% User's Guide thanks in large part to a grant from Sappi Ideas that Matter. Now with a growing number of architecture and nonprofit participants, we are looking to the future in search of more ways to continue the growth of the program, provide better resources to participants, and additional ways to help facilitate and celebrate pro bono design.
Barely through the first quarter of the year, 2008 has already been full of changes and growth, a momentum that we hope will carry throughout the rest of the year and beyond. In celebration of The 1% program's three year anniversary, we would like to express our gratitude and thanks for the nearly 330 firms and over 100 nonprofit organizations that are participating in the program as well as to the foundations, organizations, and firms that have helped to support the program financially.
John Peterson
Founder & Chair
Contents:
1. The 1% Program Celebrates 3 years & Partners with the AIAS
2. Beyond Scraphouse
3. Enterprise Community Partners announces 2008 Rose Fellowship Opportunities
4. ScrapHouse and the Day Labor Station Featured at Econnovation
5. Recent Press
6. Upcoming Presentations and Participation
7. 10 Ways you can contribute to Public Architecture
1. The 1% Program Celebrates 3 years and Partners With the AIAS
 The passing of March included two milestones in The 1% program: the three year anniversary and the pledge of the 300th firm. This month, the staff at Public Architecture will be strategizing about the future of the program, looking at ways to fine tune its focus and further support program participants. Long awaited resources regarding general contractual language for pro bono projects are in the works, along with additional improvements to the active matching portion of the website, so stay tuned.
New resources mean new opportunities including the recent partnership between The 1% program and the American Institute of Architecture Students' (AIAS) Freedom by Design program. A community service program, Freedom by Design utilizes the talents of architecture students to radically impact the lives of people in their community through design and construction solutions. Through the program, vital modifications are made to enhance the homes of low-income, elderly and disabled individuals, utilizing design to address their struggles with everyday tasks. Each Freedom by Design team requires a licensed architect, so the new partnership gives participating firms a new avenue to facilitate their pro bono pledge to The 1% program.
Click here for more information on Freedom by Design.
2. Beyond Scraphouse
 ScrapHouse, a demonstration house made of 100% salvaged materials for World Environment Day 2005, remains one of our most popular ventures. Over 10,000 people visited it during the 4 days which it was open, and it continues to attract a steady audience through the website, the National Geographic Channel documentary, and numerous exhibitions and articles. ScrapHouse illustrated the possibilities—as well as the challenges—of green building, recycling, and reuse. The house was in many ways a response to issues of growing environmental importance. With Earth Day approaching, it seems worthwhile to consider some of the realities shaping these issues:
- While building construction worldwide uses 40 percent of all the raw materials extracted from the earth the renovation and demolition of buildings in the US accounted for more than 20 percent of the total annual waste stream, which is in excess of 125 million tons. (Worldwatch Institute)
- Annually, builders in the United States generate over 30 million tons of construction waste. Demolition is another significant contributor to the waste stream with more than 70 million tons of debris being generated by the over 200,000 dwelling units and 45,000 commercial units being demolished each year. (National Association of Homebuilders)
- Only about 0.2 percent of the building materials waste stream in the US is reused. Yet, the national average potential for reuse ranges anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of the total, or a 25 to 125 fold increase over present usage. (Building Materials Reuse Association)
Beyond the visually compelling elements of the phonebook wall, the solid core door floor, and the street sign shingles, the purpose of ScrapHouse was to challenge everyone from designers to consumers to be inventive about addressing the issue of material reuse through design. Our work in this area continues to live on through a forthcoming material reuse primer as well as the Techonology Access Foundation Community Learning Space, located just south of Seattle, where we are partnering with The Miller|Hull Partnership, one of our 1% firm participants, and King County to build a nonprofit headquarters/community center that will incorporate salvaged materials throughout. This effort also suggests a broader view of sustainability with material reuse being used to achieve not only an environmental benefit but a social one as well. The building will be used as a teaching tool, with the environmental efforts being incorporated into the Techonology Access Foundation's educational initiatives. And in seeking to incorporate salvaged materials from within the community, the physical fabric of that community becomes interwoven with the new building.
For more information on all of our design campaigns, visit the campaign page of the Public Architecture website.
3. Enterprise Community Partners announces 2008 Rose Fellowship Opportunities
 The Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship creates partnerships between emerging architects and community-based organizations, applying the skills and passions of the architects in the service of low- and moderate-income communities. The Fellow contributes his or her time and energy to work as part of the host organization’s staff, building capacity and bringing fresh experience and ideas to the organization. The host offersmentorship and guidance, supporting the development of the Fellow’s career by providing meaningful experiences in design, development, financing, construction management and resident services. Applications for this year’s fellowship are due April 25, and the fellowships begin September 2. Each fellowship lasts three years. For 2008, the following fellowship opportunities are available:
- Community Housing Partnership in San Francisco, CA
- Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in East Biloxi, MS
- Project for Pride in Living in Minneapolis, MN
- SouthWest Minnesota Housing Partnership in Slayton, MN
For applications and more information about each of the fellowship opportunities, please visit www.rosefellowship.org.
4. ScrapHouse and the Day Labor Station Featured at Econnovation
 Both ScrapHouse and the Day Labor Station will be featured in the upcoming Econnovation design show. Econnovation, an equation for ecological economical innovation, is a green design show based in the San Francisco Bay Area that will be a multidisciplinary showcase of new, "econnovative" solutions pioneered locally. The show, which features an exhibition and a series of interactive workshops and events, is sponsored by Knoend, Scully Design, and Design Guild SF. The exhibition will be on display from April 22 (Earth Day) through June 20. The workshops and events will run concurrently.
As part of the exhibit, images of both ScrapHouse and the Day Labor Station will be displayed. Additionally, the three-quarter scale model of the Station, which was built last summer by UC Berkeley architecture student Nathan Brown, will be on view.
For more information on Econnovation, click here.
5. Recent Press
The work of Public Architecture continues to garner press coverage, helping to promote our design campaigns, The 1% program, and the issues we support.
"300 Architecture Firms Join Forces to Bring Design to Underserved Communities" [Read]
PR Newswire, April 1, 2008
"Public Architecture's Day Labor Station: Dignifying an Honest Day's Work"
Catholic Charities USA Magazine, Spring 2008
"Sustainability Grows Up"
Steelcase 360 e-zine, April 2008
"Not Just for Grannies Anymore: The Case for Accessory Dwelling Units" [Read]
ArchitectureBoston, March/April 2008
"Code of Ethics Reflects Support for Pro Bono Work, Sustainability" [Read]
AIAArchitect, March 21, 2008
6. Upcoming Presentations and Participation
CCA NOMAS Forum | San Francisco, CA |April 11, 2008
Invited panelist
Annual Luncheon for Non-Profit Executives | Milwaukee, WI | April 16, 2008
Invited participant
Pro Bono Roundtable | Chicago, IL | April 16-17, 2008
Invited participant
AIASF Panel: "Architecture of Social Change: Building a More Just Society" | San Francisco, CA | April 29, 2008
Invited panelist
AIA National Convention: "Leadership Through Pro Bono Community Service" | Boston, MA | May 15, 2008
Invited panelist
Click here for a complete list of upcoming and past Public Architecture presentations.
 7. 10 Ways you can contribute to Public Architecture
Click here for 10 ways to contribute to our work.
Established in 2002, Public Architecture identifies and solves practical problems of human interaction in the built environment and acts as a catalyst for public discourse through education, advocacy, and the design of public spaces and amenities. Visit www.publicarchitecture.org for more information.
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