USC Architecture Brigades is a volunteer student-based collaborative dedicated to the research, design, and construction of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable architecture in the developing world. We the students of the University of Southern California (USC) in collaboration with the organization Global Architecture Brigades, have undertaken an international project for the impoverished in Panama. We are researching and designing a sustainable and ecologically responsible community project that will build in Panama with the help of the community. Working in the village of San Jose, we will be rebuilding a "rancho" (meeting space, kitchen, bedroom, crop-solar dryer, crop storage and silo area) and a wind-protection solution for their crops (rock walls and fruit trees). The village is home to a farming community whose infrastructure is decaying and crops are continuously destroyed by extreme winds. They daily face conditions of destitute poverty and lack the resources or ability to rebuild their communities. Using extensive community dialog and independent research we will create efficient, appropriate, and elegant structures that meet the needs of the community. Our goal is to construct a multi-purpose, beneficial space while providing a mutual learning experience. Hopefully, this will then further enable and empower the surrounding communities to continue rebuilding their neighborhoods.

As architecture students we have the education and resources to design and build structures that can greatly benefit these communities and improve the lives of the people. We will provide the inhabitants with a space to gather, and create a forum for discourse and education. This effectually creates a platform for them to continue to help themselves. In this way we are able to use architecture as a means for social change and the improvement of society. This allows us to utilize our education and skill-set to create the change we want to see in the world. It is empowering as students and architects to realize our designs in such a positive and constructive way. Furthermore, this intervention will be constructed with local building techniques and materials. Without modern equipment and manufactured materials, we will be able to fully explore the boundaries and possibilities of sustainable and ecological design. This will allow us to use natural means to create an optimal environment and construct a carbon-neutral intervention with a minimal environmental footprint. It is inspiring to know that we can affect so many people’s lives and do so without the negative environmental consequences of modern construction.

Creating these solutions within the current parameters that the field of architecture has set is simply not possible. We must question, reconsider, and ultimately rewrite aspects of design that culture has come to accept. On August ninth, we will make our first research trip to the community. Eleven students will be there for a week to survey the project site and meet the community members we will be working with. During this time we will be conducting extensive research on the site's climate, landscape, and tectonics. It will also allow us to acquaint ourselves with local construction materials and methods. We will then work out preliminary design ideas and assess the community and ecological impact of our intervention. When we return home we will spend a few months working out the design, all the way from its early phase to full construction documents. After completion we will return to Panama on a second brigade, most likely over Spring Break 2010, to fully construct the project. During that time we will supervise the effort and work alongside the community in building the project. Without the aid of power tools and modern construction equipment, the shelters will be built using local building methods. Learning from each other along the way we will see the project to completion and leave the community with a great addition and useful skill set.

We are currently raising funds for the project, donations would be greatly appreciated. Please help us reach our goal and make a difference! Donate! __________________________________________________ https://fundraising.intelis.com/gbl/AThons/Home.jsp?Person=cc0d0bb811f5e2ca780100129fbfed99&Event=cc0d0bb811cfb9ee10610001d9bfe04d