CURRY STONE FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Al Borde is a collaborative and experimental architecture studio that uses participatory processes and research to work within extreme constraints.
Al Borde's now expanded work, including projects like the Culunco house, a semi-buried family home, and the House of the Flying Beds, a renovated historic property in the city of Ibarra, has continued to garner global attention. The studio has been featured in landmark exhibitions, including "Reporting from the Front" at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennial, and was shortlisted for the Swiss Architectural Award in 2018.
Al Borde is a collaborative and experimental architecture studio that uses participatory processes to engage people who are living on the margin of society, whether in the remote coastal regions of Ecuador or in the informal settlements of Latin America's major cities. Their work is known for extreme affordability. One of their most notable school projects was accomplished this on a budget of $200.
Job Titles:
- Sound Engineer / Producer, Social Design Insights
Job Titles:
- Architect
- Co - Director
- Co - Founder
- Co - Founder / Architect Clifford Curry 's Fifty - Plus Year Career Has Been Dedicated to Strengthening Underserved Communities Using Architecture, Design - and Collaboration
- Founders
- Planner and Developer
In 1968, while still in architecture school, he created the first-ever master plan for his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Next, he relocated to Oregon (where he remains) and led an urban renewal project for the city of Salem. In both cases he forged consensus between civic leaders and residents from all walks of life, resulting in a collective vision for a more vibrant and livable city. These early commissions influenced his belief that all types of problems can be approached from a design standpoint.
For over thirty-five years, Cliff focused his practice on senior living. He designed 320 affordable, service-rich facilities that have been home to 2.4 million seniors in the US, China, Canada and the UK. Worlds away from the usual, dreary "old people's homes," Cliff innovated buildings that mitigate loneliness, elevate quality of life and promote wellbeing-years before this thinking was fashionable. Drawing on his city planning experience, Cliff also ensured the facilities were perceived as an asset to surrounding neighborhoods. Arguably his work changed the paradigm for senior housing.
In 2007, out of a desire to further the use of design as a tool to improve the lives of people who don't usually have access to design services, he co-founded the Curry Stone Foundation with his partner, historical archeologist and community activist Delight Stone. Together with their team, they promote, empower and inspire a global generation of social design pioneers working in-and with, diverse communities.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Di Moda Public Relations
Job Titles:
- Architect
- Designer
- Author of ELIOOO
Dr. Antonio Scarponi is an architect, designer, educator, and the founder of Conceptual Devices, a Zurich-based office with the mission to develop design strategies with social, economic, and poetic impact.
Antonio Scarponi is the author of ELIOOO, an urban agriculture manual that activates the IKEA distribution infrastructure to build devices for growing vegetables above ground which is part of a collection of "counter products", designed to transform the consumer into a producer of an idea that otherwise would not exist. This book has been translated into German, Japanese and Russian.
Recently, Dr. Scarponi has been active globally in the field of resilient urban strategies, focusing specifically on urban agriculture. He has designed several soilless urban agricultural projects at different scales of interventions.
Currently, Dr. Scarponi teaches Interdisciplinary Design and serves as the co-head of the Certificate of Advanced Studies Knowing Space at the Zurich University of Arts (ZHDK). He also teaches Exhibition Scenography at The Master in Education and Curatorial Studies. He is leading a research project for the reactivation of the Olivetti UNESCO World Heritage Factory in Ivrea, coordinating an EU Horizon 2020 grant request.
Job Titles:
- Faculty Senior Scientist
- US Engineer
Dr. Gadgil is Faculty Senior Scientist and was Director of the Energy and Environmental Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is also Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and technology design for development and has substantial experience in technical, economic, and policy research on energy efficiency and its implementation - particularly in developing countries.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director
- Co - Founder
For over forty years Dr. Delight Stone has worked across platforms and geographies promoting, defending and creating community vitality.
Delight is a philanthropist, historical archeologist and community activist. This activism has been local, national, and international and includes work in archaeology, cultural resource management, architectural preservation, design, public health, and environmental and social justice. This includes participation with the Reclaiming group Living River, North Santiam Watershed Council in opposition to the Kinross Copper Mine, and the creation of the Guadalupe Medical Clinic in Salem, Oregon.
Born and raised in the rural west, especially the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, Delight grew up working in the fields, picking crops, and on farms. She then worked her way through undergraduate school and after graduation worked in as an engineering technician. Subsequently she earned an international MBA, a masters in applied anthropology and a PhD in historical archaeology.
In 2007, she and Cliff Curry co-founded the Curry Stone Foundation and the Curry Stone Design Prize to promote and honor designers who address the critical social needs of people who are not typically served by the design community. The prize championed the belief that design can be a powerful force for improving lives and strengthening communities. Among other facets of the prize, Delight oversaw production of short documentary videos about the winners.
When not travelling to India to visit project sites for the Curry Stone Design Collaborative or working on behalf of practices in the Curry Stone design network, Delight enjoys reading mystery books, cooking, and Bikram Hot Yoga.
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Ball State University
Dr. Wesley Janz is a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Ball State University, Indiana and the founder of OneSmallProject. Currently, he is working to draw attention to the issues central to the U.S. prison system.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Producer
- Director of Community Networks
- Emeritus Prize Secretary / Community Networks Advisor
Emiliano Gandolfi is an urbanist and independent curator. After a long-term engagement directing the Curry Stone Design Prize, he is currently developing programs to support the Curry Stone design network. Gandolfi is also co-founder of Cohabitation Strategies, a non-profit cooperative for socio-spatial research, design and development.
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Designer, Writer
- Director of Educational Initiatives
- Director of Educational Initiatives / Host, Social Design Insights
Eric J. Cesal is a designer, writer, and noted post-disaster expert, having led on-the-ground reconstruction programs after the Haiti earthquake, the Great East Japan Tsunami, and Superstorm Sandy. Formally trained as an architect, Cesal counts international development, economics and foreign policy among his areas of expertise. He is currently visiting faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.
Himanshu Parikh is an Cambridge, UK based Indian engineer who developed the concept of ‘slum networking.' This stems from how the infrastructure of cities was traditionally based on natural features such as topography and gravity.
Job Titles:
- Architect
- Taiwanese Architect
Hsieh Ying-Chun is a Taiwanese architect who works throughout Asia, training villagers to build locally appropriate dwellings in response to earthquake devastation.
In 2004, Shieh Ying Chun built his first design of Urine-feces diverted toilet in Dingzhou, Hebei. The building primarily utilized local waste and used timbers for assembly and was built by the villagers. Since the need for water for flushing is not necessary for urine-feces diverted toilet, water resource can be efficiently saved. In addition, without mixing the waste, the stools would be dried faster, thereby prevent bacteria reproduction and shorten the time for fertilization. Urine can also be used as fertilizer after fermentation.
Hsieh Ying-Chun is a leading Taiwanese architect and contractor who works throughout Asia, training villagers to build locally appropriate dwellings in response to earthquake devastation. Hsieh Ying-Chun joins host Eric Cesal to talk about how people can power rebuilding after disaster.
John Fetterman is an American politician who as mayor, led an urban rejuvenation of the formerly depressed, post-industrial city of Braddock, PA.
Leah has a background in education, library and information studies and psychology.
She has spent a lifetime cultivating curiosity and assisting people with their informational, philosophical and psychological questions. Leah holds graduate degrees from the University of Southern California and Pacifica Graduate Institute. When she is not traveling, she enjoys literary fiction, photography and gardening with her cat Newman.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Image Credit: Jason Crebs
Nance Klehm is an advisor to and a grower for a private seed bank held by an indigenous Mayan woman. Image Credit: Nance Klehm
Nance Klehm teaches in-depth soil workshops for community groups about their local soil. This was one was on soil aggregate and composition. Image Credit: Nance Klehm
Nance Klehm runs a composting cooperative called ‘The Ground Rules' based in Chicago. This is their compost at the end of the winter, ready to harvest. This compost is used in gardens and in microbial remediation of soils on our community remediation sites. Image Credit: Nance Klehm
Nance Klehm is a "radical ecologist" whose multifaceted practice seeks to foster awareness of how we coexist with plant and animal populations all around us. She is an ecological systems designer, landscaper, horticultural consultant, and permaculture grower. Her work focuses on soil, ecology and community. Nance Klehm shares her experiences as a ‘radical ecologist' and her strategies for helping cities connect with nature.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director Curry Stone Design Collaborative Mumbai
Sandhya Naidu Janardhan is the Managing Director of Curry Stone Design Collaborative, a Mumbai-based design studio established in 2017. The Collaborative works to bring together disadvantaged communities, civic agencies and designers, to a common cause - work together to use design and technical tools to address inequalities in the built environment.
Sandhya is a graduate of Columbia University's GSAPP in New York City and a TED Fellow. Her prior experiences include working as a Design Associate at Tierra Design an interdisciplinary design firm based in Singapore, and as Design Fellow and Project Manager at the San Francisco based non-profit, Architecture for Humanity. These experiences helped Sandhya form a balanced view of mainstream architecture and social architecture, and eventually led her back to work in service to communities that are most in need.
At the Collaborative, Sandhya is currently working with a diverse group of communities across India through design interventions helping create dignified places to live, learn, play and work.
Shawn Frayne is an inventor with a longstanding interest in wind energy
Suzanne Lacy is an American artist and activist who uses her work to tackle themes of gender violence, segregation, and other issues related to social justice. Her work combines "social practice art," intended to involve communities in discussion or debate, and "new genre public art," which is her term for public art that is created outside institutional structures to engage directly with an audience.
Suzanne Lacy is an American artist and activist whose career spans forty years, and has consistently tackled themes of gender violence, segregation, and other social justice issues.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Registered Nurse in Oregon
Terrie draws from her Pittsburgh steel roots of hard work and common sense to follow her aim, make a difference, contribute and be kind.
From patient care to policy development, Terrie's career in international research led her to Beijing, China for two years working on TB vaccine development for Asia. Prior to China she provided program support for USAID in Iraq. While in the U.S.A. she worked in clinical research at the National Institutes of Health and as the Regional Program Officer for the Americas/Caribbean at the Office of Global Research. She held the position of interdisciplinary scientist, at the Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research Authority, receiving H1N1 vaccines and ancillary equipment into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpiles.
Through these experiences Terrie has made helping those who are the most vulnerable a priority.
Terrie is a registered nurse in Oregon. She received a Bachelor of Science from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and a Master of Science in Correctional Administration from Western Oregon College.
How can urban dwellers participate in the construction of their own built environment? Urban-Think Tank (U-TT) is an interdisciplinary design studio dedicated to high-level research and design at a variety of scales. The studio champions collaborative work with intended users as a tool to develop spaces and projects that reinterpret the potential of unbuilt areas. Community Development Urban Strategies