Cameron Sinclair, the founder and executive director of Architecture for Humanity, is not so happy about the fact that architectural grants are funded by the National Foundation for the Arts.

At an LA Public Library’s ALOUD event yesterday, Cameron likened that grouping to FEMA’s grouping with the Department of Homeland Security — a grouping that seems completely random and arbitrary.

Weirdly, I found many of the buildings he presented (via powerpoint) strangely beautiful — Hybrid amalgamations of aesthetics and practicality.

Cameron’s talk was billed as an event that would “explore the notion of disaster as an opportunity for sustainable development, rather than a temporary band-aid for those in crisis.” The focus was on application — the importance of turning ideas into implementation.

Cameron stressed the need for architectural ideas that take into account the resources and materials of the locations for which these ideas are intended. Amazingly, many of Architecture for Humanity projects cost very, very little — because the ideas work with local, avaliable resources. Most importantly, these projects make use of the work and skills of the people who’ll end up using these architectural innovations. Projects benefit from relatively inexpensive local labor while connecting local inhabitants with the architectural structures built ostensibly for their benefit.

Afterwards, when I broke through the crowd to congratulate Cameron on his TED award, he said he’ll get back to contributing on WorldChanging soon — His last post was in Aug. 2005.

Cameron and Kate Stohr’s book on humanitarian design called “Design Like You Give A Damn” will be out May-ish. The feature I’m most looking forward to reading about: Play Pump — It’s a merry-go-round in South Africa that uses the energy of children at play to pump water into a nearby water tower.

And damn — WIRED’s got some money these days. The mag sponsored the event. Yummy appetizers, open wine & beer bar –

Update, 3/3/06: Jamais of Worldchanging’s post on “The Open Future.”

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