Design . Build . Learn . Repeat

Architecture: Community Design

• Design Corps - Design Corps’ mission is to create positive change by providing architecture and planning services to underserved communities. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Design Corps operates a nationwide fellowship program for young architects, a summer design/build studio, and an annual conference, Structures for Inclusion.

• Gulf Coast Community Design Studio - Our design studio is embedded in the community of Biloxi and offers design assistance, mapping, planning, and other services to families and organizations in need.

• Architecture for Humanity - A volunteer non-profit organization set up to promote architecture and design to seek solutions to global social and humanitarian crises. The AfH Model Home Program is currently building seven houses in East Biloxi.

• BaSiC Initiative - A collaboration of faculty and students from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture that allows students to design and build architectural solutions specific to a variety of environments.

Architecture: Networks

• Open Architecture Network - An online, open source community begun by Architecture for Humanity and dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design.

• Social Economic Environmental Design Network (SEED) - A new collective of practitioners, activists, and theorists devoted to collaborative, community-based design.

• Cradle-to-Cradle - Promotes new design principles and an industrial system in which products are created for cradle-to-cradle cycles, whose materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops. Based on the work of William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart.

• CITYbuild Consortium of Schools - A collective of national university-based programs working cooperatively to address the community rebuilding challenges of New Orleans.

Architecture: Firms and Organizations

• Community Planning and Design - Based in Charlottesville, VA, CP+D offers a broad and open-minded approach to planning and design through the work of (my professors) Judith Kinnard, Ken Schwartz, and Maurice Cox.

• JBHM - A large, primarily Mississippi-based firm involved in Moss Point’s downtown redevelopment project.

• Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems - A non-profit education, research, and demonstration organization established in 1975 and specializing in life cycle planning and design.

Building & Volunteer Coordination

• East Biloxi Coordination, Relief, and Redevelopment Agency - The mission of the EBCRRA is to support the individuals, families, small businesses, and neighborhoods of Biloxi, Mississippi as they rebuild their community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

• Hands On Gulf Coast - A Biloxi-based volunteer organization coordinating short- and long-term volunteers in a broad range of initatives including construction, mold remediation, green spaces, youth development, and community outreach.

• Habitat for Humanity - Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Active in Biloxi are HfH of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and HfH of Northern Virginia.

• Hope Force - Hope Force International is committed to motivating, equipping and mobilizing the global Christian community to respond in times of crisis and chronic need, alleviating suffering and bringing hope through compassionate action.

• BFS Compassion First - Works in Biloxi to help with restoration of this community as a result of Hurricane Katrina for as long as there is need, resource, and volunteer will.

• Salvation Army - The Salvation Army is heavily engaged in disaster relief and offers grants for rebuilding. Their Volunteer Village in East Biloxi houses over four hundred volunteers during peak weeks.

• Back Bay Mission - A Biloxi-based church organization concerned with aiding the impoverished and marginalized within society.

Community Development

• NAVASA - A branch of the National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies works in Biloxi to provide services to the city’s significant Vietnamese-American population.

• Warnke Community Consulting - Designs and implements practical solutions to assist nonprofit organizations in achieving their missions and addressing the challenges confronting the communities they serve.

• North Gulfport Community Land Trust - Formed in 2004 in an effort to address the environmental degradation, wetlands filling, land speculation and potential gentrification of the North Gulfport community.

Environment

• Sierra Club - America’s oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization works to protect our communities and the planet.

• Back Porch Energy Initiative - A non-profit organization working with communities to cultivate local responses to the national and global issue of energy consumption.

• Waterkeeper Alliance - Champions clean water and strong communities through local programs, environmental protection, and issue advocacy.

Mississippi Resources

• City of Biloxi - The official site of a diverse city that boasts rich historical communities, fishing and shrimping industries, thriving casinos, Keesler AFB, and more. Historically low-income East Biloxi was among the areas hardest-hit by Hurricane Katrina.

• City of Moss Point - Unique among Mississippi’s coastal cities in being primarily riverfront-focused rather than beach-focused, Moss Point is envisioning a future with a vibrant downtown and neighborhoods and strong focus on eco-tourism and recreation.

• Mississippi State University Extension Service - Provides research-based information, educational programs, and technology transfer focused on issues and needs of the people of Mississippi.

Universities

• University of Virginia - A historic public research university founded by Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, VA. UVA ranks as one of the top public universities on the strength of its academics, honor system, and student self-governance. Its School of Architecture focuses on the analysis and design of the public realm and a close integration among the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, history of architecture, and urban and environmental planning.

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University - Virginia Tech is a comprehensive, innovative research university with the largest full-time student population in Virginia.

• Mississippi State University - A land-grant university located in Starkville, MS, with the largest student population in the state. Its College of Architecture, Art + Design supports the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio.

• Auburn University’s Rural Studio - The Rural Studio is a design/build studio that seeks solutions to the needs of the community within the community’s own context. Students learn to transform abstract ideas based upon knowledge and study into workable solutions forged by real human contact, personal realization, and a gained appreciation for the culture.