A statistical nightmare

Some days statistics weigh heavy on my heart. The scale and complexity of such concrete data leaves me feeling dizzy. It’s difficult to know which avenue to pursue or where our research efforts should lie. Take a breath.

One statistic in particular has driven many of our discussions:

“The world urban population is expected to increase by 84% by 2050, from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion in 2050.”

— UN / Dept of Economic and Social Affairs

It is a nod to all those other facts and figures with which we are bombarded. For the first time in history we live in a world where the number of those living in urban areas surpasses the rural. The urban growth is concentrated in less developed regions... the number of slum dwellers continues to increase.

This combination of natural population growth and urbanisation poses huge challenges. Is it something to fear? Should urbanisation be discouraged or is it a key building block of sustainable development? What are the implications for our cities and our citizens?

AzuKo operates within the realm of international development, holding strong the belief that there is a real need for architectural analysis. A humane critique.

In the face of adversity we see ingenuity.

So, over the next year we will be examining environments under enormous pressure - urban, high-density, low-income areas. We will focus on what it means to achieve a sense of place in settings on the frontline. How do individuals, families, units and communities cope under such strain and how do they come together to create genius loci, that distinctive atmosphere which elevates a simple street?

We have much to learn.

Author: J. Ashbridge

Measuring social impact

AzuKo seeks to support poverty alleviation through human centred design; shining a light on the processes and evaluating the outcomes.

We are therefore embarking on a journey to define and measure our social impact through a series of workshops facilitated by our trustee Katie Crepeau (a heavyweight in the PID movement). Over the next few months we will be opening our doors to the public, to document these workshops on DesignAffects.com.

We hope you will join us and continue the dialogue online. 

Read Katie’s article.

Author: J. Ashbridge  

Our language in your hands

Public interest design is about listening to people; learning about their customs, traditions and daily routine. It is about understanding what they desire from their surroundings and working together to create something compelling and life changing.

So what better way to listen than in their own language? After all, to miss the point is to demand they speak our language, whatever that may be?  Isn't it?

Unfortunately, many of these remotely spoken languages are becoming increasingly endangered - threatened to extinction as Mandarin, Spanish and English bulldoze along, and ultimately nullify them. It would be terrifying to think that, in the present day of global communication, we would neglect to save them, with all the tools in hand to prevent that? We would have failed to listen and to effect a change. A public interest change. 

Dr. Mark Turin is an anthropologist, linguist and broadcaster. Co-located between Cambridge and Yale Universities, Dr. Turin is a warrior for language preservation and all that comes with it: the history, the culture, the pride. I was lucky enough to hear him speak a few weeks ago in New York City and was inspired by his passion and his dedication to documenting endangered languages. Through social media, through making and reviving recordings of native speakers, and through the painstaking creation of the first dictionaries for some of these isolated cultures, Dr. Turin hopes to open a dialogue with some of the most remote villages in the Himalayas.

In doing so, he will save an invaluable part of their lives: their words.

Listen to the BBC programme for an insight into Dr. Turin's work in South Africa, or visit his website for more videos and current projects.

Author: B. Ashbridge