see :: IDC

WHO ARE WE?

The International Design Clinic, or IDC, is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to realizing much-needed creative work with communities in need around the world. Since its inception in 2006, the IDC has completed over a dozen projects on four continents, including an urban tent for the homeless made of reclaimed water bottles and plastic bags; a communal playspace for Romanian orphans constructed of construction debris; a vision for education for the migratory communities of India based upon borrowed resources; a three-dollar projection system designed to rearticulate the manner in which art and architecture is conceived, displayed and regenerated; and a street-based educational system designed within vending architectures for kids working the streets of Bolivia. In each case, the work produced was the product of an intensely collaborative creative address, based upon existing conditions and undervalued, indigenous materials and resources. The intent in so doing is to attach the work to the circumstances at hand, so that our community partners might possess and evolve the work for years to come. Instead of a fish, the IDC offers not teachings, but a creative process through which we could collaborate with those in need to create new poles, raise new fish, and craft new teachings.

WHO’S IN CHARGE?

WHY DO WE EXIST?

The International Design Clinic exists for three reasons:

1. WE BELIEVE OUR WORLD IS IN NEED.
In the developing world alone, more than 1.2 billion people currently live below the international poverty line and over 640 million children do not have adequate shelter. In these countries, eleven million children younger than 5 die every year. Worldwide, almost one billion people live in slums, including 56 million in developed countries. If nothing is done, these numbers will only increase. (a) Poverty, hunger and disease are the result, as each condition is cyclically perpetuated by the unavailability of basic necessities such as clean water, adequate shelter and minimal health services. Statistically, children are particularly hard hit by these conditions. According to UNICEF, every other child in the world is currently living in poverty. In terms of specific conditions faced, 1 in 3 children do not have adequate shelter, 1 in 5 do not have access to safe water and 1 in 7 do not have access to health services. (b) Not surprisingly, this translates into staggering childhood mortality rates. In 2006, 9.7 million children died before they reached the age of 5, or the equivalent of every child in France, Germany, Greece and Italy. (c)

Industrialized nations are not immune from the affects of homelessness and mass poverty. In the United States almost 1 in 4 minors live below the poverty line and over 750,000 people are living without shelter. Phrased another way, if all of the homeless were gathered into one city, it would be one of the largest cities in the US, rivaling the size of San Francisco. (d) (e)

2. WE BELIEVE THAT THESE NEEDS REQUIRE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.
These conditions have prompted an army of aid organizations, multi-national corporations and citizens to give time, money, and resources to those in need. The intent behind this support is to allow those torn apart by disaster to reconstruct their lives so that over time, they might regain their ability to obtain food, shelter, education, and medicine without external intervention. Giving USA 2008, an annual report compiled by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, found that in 2007 Americans gave $306.39 billion to their favorite cause. The organizations supported in this manner have had a profound impact upon many of the needs cited above. To point, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health program has committed more than $3.6 billion in global health grants to organizations worldwide in order to ensure that lifesaving advances in health are created and shared with those who need them most. These efforts have immunized entire populations and stemmed the tide of disease in many parts of the world. (f)

Sadly, such long-term solutions are quite rare. Although disease may be eradicated by a one-time vaccination, other effects of poverty, such as homelessness, hunger, and education, require solutions that can be adopted and evolved by the communities they are intended to serve. Only then will the project become part of the community, surrounded by motivated individuals who are vested in its success. Although money and effort are required to address every need, long-term change is quite often less a question of time, effort, or money, than it is the strategic allocation of each.

Every solution offered by the IDC is designed to fit the specific means, culture, and traditions of each community we intend to serve. Our strategies are neither a replication of existing local methods nor an imposition of foreign solutions. Rather, they are a synthesis of both traditions – a hybrid address that empowers those served to possess and evolve the given strategy in a meaningful way. Instead of offering vinyl siding we offer new ways of building based upon local traditions and materials.

3. WE BELIEVE THAT STUDENTS, ARCHITECTS, ARTISTS, AND DESIGNERS HAVE THE SKILLS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP THESE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.

Gifted with a broad education and a subsequent ability to solve complex problems, students, designers, artists and other creative professionals are uniquely equipped to offer creative design solutions. They are some of the greatest visionaries of our world – professionals whose creative talents enable them to find and utilize previously untapped resources within even the most restrictive situation. Within the hands of the artist and designer, formerly overlooked materials find a new voice, and existing traditions are given new life.

More importantly, THESE CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS DESPERATELY WANT TO HELP. They simply lack the infrastructure to offer their talents to the global community.

The IDC exists to fill this need.

WHO BENEFITS?

Each project of the IDC is designed and constructed by our student-members, who use their creative talents to propose strategies that are custom designed to the specific needs, culture, and traditions of the communities we intend to serve. Once completed, these projects not only benefit the receiving community in a way that boilerplate solutions simply cannot; they also help to create a generation of designers who are:

A. BETTER CITIZENS — Foreign travel is a crucial part of the educational experience for all students of design. Through it, they are given the opportunity to gain valuable firsthand experience of unique cultures, as well as world-renowned works of art, architecture and design. The IDC magnifies these benefits by asking students to become active members of a community utterly unlike their own. More than simple tourism, our students are given the chance to work with people who speak a different language, have different customs, and carry different values to accomplish a single goal. The perspective gained from this experience will forever change the way both parties view themselves, their culture, and their world.

B. BETTER DESIGNERS — Through the completion of the project, the IDC will provide participating students with the opportunity to become deeply involved in all aspects of the design process, from concept through construction. Aside from the gratification of seeing something they designed come to life, this experience will allow students to work directly with clients and end users and become part of a large team working toward a common goal: constructing a work that will fill a need within our adopted community. In the process, the uncompromising principles of construction are made tangible, resulting in designers who are better equipped to offer effective design solutions once they enter the workforce.

C. BETTER CITIZEN-DESIGNERS — Most importantly, this experience will clearly demonstrate to the students the potential impact of their unique professional talents. They will have seen the lives changed by their work and measured the true value of their gifts. This insight will remain with the students for the rest of their lives, producing professionals who are more compassionate to those in need and more aware of their power to offer a solution.

As our students return from this experience, their expanded vision will undoubtedly be shared with fellow students, faculty members, and other design professionals. Their testimony will encourage others to take stock of their talents and realize that they too are UNIQUELY EQUIPPED CITIZENS, capable of offering the CREATIVE STRATEGIES required to address the circumstances faced by a WORLD that is in NEED.

NOTES:

(a) http://www.unicefusa.org/news/publications/annual-report/UNICEF_ar08_FINAL.pdf

(b) http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/SOWC_2005_(English).pdf

According the State of the World’s Children 2005: “Childhood Under Threat” more than half the children in the developing world are severely deprived of one or more of the necessities essential to childhood: 640 million children do not have adequate shelter; 500 million children have no access to sanitation; 400 million children do not have access to safe water; 300 million children lack access to information; 270 million children have no access to health care services; 140 million children have never been to school; 90 million children are severely food-deprived. The State of the World’s Children also makes clear that poverty is not exclusive to developing countries. In 11 of 15 industrialized nations, the proportion of children living in low-income households during the last decade has risen. (State of the World’s Children Report 2004, Girls, Education and Development. UNICEF,

(d) http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snapshots_20060719/

(e) http://www.endlongtermhomelessness.org/questions_answers/ending_homelessness/how_many_homeless_us.aspx

(f) World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr08/en/)