design practice and community activism. Much like an open-door civic center this project seeks to create a community rooted space where one can build and make. The combination of workshop and resource recovery depot will make up the ‘backbone,’ while design studios will help guide and organize. Local materials will be gathered from the community, used by the community and designed for the community at large. This civic work environment becomes a place of production and reuse rather than consumption. Unfinished spaces will be provided to allow for individual expression and economy (these will be flexible yet specifically designed for self-build). Inside, communities and designers will be encouraged to interact with each other, allowing social exchange as well as a new outlook on design processes. As a mixing bowl of materials, ideas and skill sets, synergies and strategies will emerge though sharing. A nearby resident will be able to fix a chair or renovate a room while an architect may be able to develop prototypes with donations and local testing. The perpetually changing nature of our waste stream, which is typically considered a challenge, is seen as a endless well for creative responses and empowering a community.

Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

Small scale: DIY salvage/design/built events will continue to happen on a volunteer basis, gaining community support and awareness. Current interior renovation and industrial design work with non-profits has aligned initiative with many community figures while developing new prototypes. Few overhead costs associated make this quite easy to continue – just a little bit of time and effort.

Community scale: A permanent space for workshops and collecting materials for a community can be set up with a small bit of financing. As networks are formed with different trades, industries and local citizens more examples of bricolage help to solidify volunteer base.

Building scale: A non-profit organization is set up to coordinate grants and finances while a site/existing building is located. Grant writing will be a critical component of growth. Building components are slowly gathered and created from prototypes. Integrated studios and live/work units will help to subsidize new community resource center.

Network scale: Other spaces (collection points and storage sheds) will be created around the city to help support functions. A virtual network of ideas and social connections will be instrumental to connecting communities and nascent workshops.

Education: The space will help provide educational opportunities for secondary and primary schools while proposing adjunct hands-on research labs for local universities.

Spreading ideas: Once one organization is established, financial and political leverage can encourage unique versions to sprout in other cities and communities around the globe.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

Comprehensive: This proposal provides alternatives to current issues: over-consumption and wasting of resources, a lack of creative engagement with the built & natural environment, a loss of knowledge in how to create, fix, invent and reinvent, reliance on global transportation and production of goods, economy of materials and building.
Anticipatory: Our wasted materials are plentiful; the sources are varied and the forms inconsistent. We must look for ways use what is available to solve problems while seeking applications for materials at hand. These strategies keep design processes non-linear and adaptable, able to transform things on the fly and ensure unique solutions.
Ecologically Responsible: Reducing waste, cutting our reliance on global transportation, and mobilizing local communities is a small, small footprint.
Feasible: Wasted materials, creativity and a forum are all that is required to start.
Verifiable: The concept has been tested through the success of small scale design workshops and the real world applications. The workshop will be a testing ground in itself, allowing for failure but verifying that the outcomes are sound.
Replicable: The project thinks big – spreading ideas and sprouting new variations – and yet its humble start makes it easily realized in any community. Making locally, while continuing to dream globally, the project’s vitality and viability are ensured.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

After just two months of salvaging materials, mostly from the alleys of Vancouver, a small design build event was organized in an attempt to reuse found materials. Over one weekend, about thirty people came out to a small studio space to build small scale projects. Friends and strangers came together and collaborated or worked independently to create about twelve complete works. Everything was completely free and only labour was contributed. The event also provided insight into the proposed program of the project. The social and physical nature of the build allowed for a kind of ‘practice’ or dry run of the concepts expressed here. Although it was seen as just a small step toward a larger picture of the thesis, the weekend was widely deemed successful. In addition to the interesting artifacts crafted, it became clear that lessons in community mobilization and the sharing of skill sets were paramount. Working with different people, tools, and materials also revealed spatial and technical needs for the building and processes.

DIY build events like the one above continue to inspire and ‘happen’ in different neighborhoods. While many have gone home with hand made furnishings or concepts for repairing part of their house, we have continued to develop prototypes for future and current applications. Individuals, local businesses and non-profits have tapped our resources and skills for small scale build projects. Support from the local universities has been provided. In the meantime, a diverse network of people has been amassed – welders, boat-builders, electricians, artists, and many who just have a lot of passion. We do not suppose that we can do this alone, but with our community, anything is possible.