2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge Announces Winners

The Global Studio of Seattle, WA, USA selected as overall winner for its innovative design of a technology media lab and recording studio in Nairobi, Kenya.

Cape Town, South Africa, June 3, 2008 - Architecture for Humanity and AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the winners of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge: Digital Inclusion, a global competition to develop technology facilities for communities in need, from the 50x15 Africa Partner Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. The competition received 566 registered entries from 57 countries. The winners, including one overall competition winner and two regional site winners, were determined by an international review board of jurors comprised of architects, technologists, and community members. The overall competition winner and Africa challenge site winner is The Global Studio of Seattle, WA, USA, for its design of a technology media lab and recording studio for SIDAREC, located in an informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya.  With the construction of this media lab, Lucy Mathai and George Onyango, both founders of SIDAREC, hope their community will become “the next Silicon Valley.”

The competition was announced at the 2007 TED Conference and launched at the 2007 World Economic Forum on Africa in June.  AMD sponsored the 2007 challenge through 50x15, a global initiative founded by AMD with the goal of enabling affordable Internet access and computing capability for 50 percent of the world’s population by the year 2015.

The winners of the South American challenge site are Igor Taskov of Nis, Serbia and Heather Worrell and ChunSheh Teo of Indianapolis, IN, USA, for their design of a fair trade chocolate factory and technology hub for Kallari Association in Ecuador. The winner of the Asia challenge site is Max Fordham LLP & Nick Lawrence of London, UK, for an innovative telemedicine center for Nyaya Health in the remote mountains of western Nepal.

Architecture for Humanity also awarded its Founders Award to the third place Asia challenge finalist, Studio Wikitecture, for embracing a truly collaborative way of working using online crowd sourcing and Second Life as a way to create a highly participatory design approach.

As the winner of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge, The Global Studio will see their ideas come to life in the heart of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. With full construction financing made possible with funding by AMD and the 50x15 Initiative the team will collaborate with Architecture for Humanity and SIDAREC, the recipient local community organization, to build their winning solution.  The Global Studio’s innovative design will help empower and enrich the lives of thousands of children in the heart of this vast unplanned settlement. 

Additionally, each of the three winning teams receives a US$5,000 travel stipend to travel on site and work with the respective community organizations to further develop and refine the design. Architecture for Humanity is currently seeking additional funds to construct the solutions for the sites in Ecuador and Nepal.

 

2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge Winners and Finalists:

Africa Challenge: To empower the youth of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, an informal settlement of 250,000, by connecting with other youth and to create positive change in the community by building a technology media lab, library and recording studio.
Client, Location: SIDAREC (Slums Information Development and Resource Centers), Nairobi, Kenya

 

Site Winner: The Global Studio, Seattle, WA, USA
2nd Place: Duvivier Architects, Venice, CA, USA
3rd Place: KBAS, Philadelphia, PA, USA
4th Place (joint): Yu & Yang of ARki, Taipei, Taiwan
4th Place (joint): Daniel Roberts and Tracy Autenrieth, Valparaiso, IN, USA

 

South America Challenge: To connect a cooperative of indigenous chocolate producers and artisans in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the global marketplace by building a fair trade exchange, chocolate production center and satellite rural technology points.
Client, Location: Kallari Association, Beaza, Ecuador

Site Winner: Heather Worrell, ChunSheh Teo, Indianapolis, IN, USA and Igor Taskov, Nis, Serbia
2nd Place: Laurent Troost, zerOgroup, Manaos, Brazil
3rd Place: HdlT Collaborative, Seattle, WA, USA
4th Place: Guido Silvestri with Leonardo Zaffi and nuvolaB architetti associati, Florence, Italy
5th Place: Chocologia, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

 

Asia Challenge: To enable families in a remote rural area of Nepal where there is only one doctor for a population of 250,000 to access to health care from top physicians and medical professionals all over the world by building a tele-medicine center.
Client, Location: Nyaya Health, Sanfe Bagar, Nepal

Site Winner: Max Fordham LLP + Nick Lawrence, London, UK
2nd Place: Emre Can Yilmaz, Istanbul, Turkey
3rd Place and Founders Award: Studio Wikitecture, Second Life
4th Place (joint): MasA, Sevilla, Spain
4th Place (joint): Boulder Associates, Boulder, Colorado, USA

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About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

 

About 50x15
The 50x15 Initiative, launched by AMD in 2004 at the World Economic Forum,is a bold and far-reaching effort to develop new technology and solutions to help enable affordable Internet access and computing capability for 50 percent of the world’s population by the year 2015. More than just goodwill, 50x15 is about fostering long-term economic progress and investment within high-growth markets in ways that benefit a wide range of
people and businesses. For more information, visit www.50x15.com.

 

About Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and provides professional design services to communities in need. For more information, please visit www.architectureforhumanity.org.

 

About the Open Architecture Challenge:
Each year Architecture for Humanity hosts a global design challenge on the Open Architecture Network to harness the creativity and energy of the design community to address a different systemic issue facing those living in underserved communities. By reaching beyond the traditional bounds of architecture the open design competition challenges architects, designers and others to solve inequities in the built environment affecting the health, prosperity and well-being of under-served communities.

 

The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge will focus on redesigning portable classrooms. For more information and to view all the designs entries in to the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge, please visit www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge

 

About the Open Architecture Network
The Open Architecture Network is an online, open source community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design.  For more information please visit:
www.openarchitecturenetwork.org