pro bono - ethic, motivation, and something more

edith416

<p>recently came across an article named ' pro bono ethic flourishing among architects' published in residential architecture online, written by Stephani L. Miller. what is inspiring to me is that 'while more than 60 percent said bringing architecture and design to underserved communities was their biggest motivation'. this is really amazing and encouraging, as i see this as serving the general public and looking at the big picture.  fee based projects and probono projects, if, can co-exsist in one firm, what will be the ideal setting of such a firm? or personell? i think the 60 percent group have had, or already working towards the answer of this question. unfortunately we dont have a 'formula' on these things and we need to work it out by ourselves, but the correct motivation is far more important. in fact, it is quite disappointing to hear reasons such as 'exploring the market' or something more related to the firm's  own interests or development.  (well, fair enough that we are not perfect and architecture is not 'charity'.) Still, i believe good will is far more important in pro bono, not just because there is no or limited fees but because we believe there are some organisations out there need the pro bono simply because they need to develope and put their ideas together in real bricks and mortor. or in smaller scale possibly some air conditioning for the elderly and some beds for the homeless. to further this, besides considering the ideal setting of a probono firm we may need to extend our thoughts to 'what constitute a probono project' - what i mean is it does not needs to be a building, but some internal layout or lightings or shading devices.  </p>
<p>link to the source : <a href="http://www.residentialarchitect.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=275&articleID=783664">http://www.residentialarchitect.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=275&articleID=783664</a></p>
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javi

<p>Interesting article, I believe that Architects for Peace has been in touch with John Carey and Public architecture too. </p>
<p>My concern is that with the so called 'economic meltdown', pro bono will be the first to suffer. On the other hand, perhaps this is the time to realise that we need to put and end to greed and opportunism, and this could mean a greater interest in pro bono.  </p>