One of my mentors once said, ‘get great at building a rich social network…and becoming of use to as many human beings as possible.’

These words reflect a lot of what Architecture-in-Development (A--D) means to me. When Rob and I started A--D twelve years ago, we envisioned a platform that enables user-generated content, based on creative commons. Next to this digital infrastructure, I have poured my heart into nurturing a global network - connecting like-minded people and stories, motivating new behaviours and perceptions towards local, often marginalised, know-how.

Over the years, we’ve been cultivating a Do-it-Together (DiT) culture with radically new insights into sustainability. The DiT approach reflects the concept of commoning, involving (often volunteer-driven) collaboration, shared decision-making, and stewardship that benefits the broader community rather than pursuing individual success.

At A--D, we’re committed to embodying DiT principles. In the past months, I was fortunate to meet some of these amazing members and engage them to Do-it-Together — the exciting restructuring process of A--D:(left) Mariana Martinez Balvanera, our GC2021 finalist, who manages a remarkable practice-based research project with a community in the Mexican rainforest.

(middle) Shiraz Juriaans, our corporate fundraiser, who seeks to increase mutual exchange and learning between his real estate sector and A--D’s local-led practices.

(right) Sarah Essbai, our long-time collaborator and communication manager, who significantly contributes to our communication, content strategy and campaigns.(right) April Beturin, our volunteering UX/UI design researcher, who conducts user engagement research for A--D’s website upgrade;

(left) Hani Salih, our long-time content editor and strategist, who continuously improves the impact of our storytelling.

On September 13, I’m joining the IABR assembly.

I look forward to meeting more local and international cooperative design practices, discussing common initiatives and self-organized approaches to ‘living and building together’ in times of ecological and social crises. Feel free to come by and chat with us. Click on the image for more event info.

Cheers,

Changfang, A--D co-founder