Architecture Philanthropy re:arc institute Announces the 2023–24 Grants, Practice Lab Collaborators, and Initiatives

Written by Maria-Cristina Florian
Published on November 01, 2023

Copenhagen-based philanthropic association re:arc institute has announced the cohort of nonprofit organizations, people, and practices they will support throughout 2024. The organization founded in 2022 works at the intersection of climate action and architectural philanthropy, aiming to support the development of solutions that address the root causes and consequences of climate change.

The architectural field often adheres to conventional industry models, either client-based or competition-based, which can perpetuate problematic or extractive motivations. The re:arc institute hopes to rethink the architecture discipline’s potential for addressing social and environmental concerns by providing a blueprint for pioneering philanthropic projects. To do so, they provide funding to nonprofits, individuals, and community-led projects exploring innovative approaches that prioritize planetary well-being. Their focus is on hyper-local, grassroots initiatives that address climate crises with a strong emphasis on the unique needs of specific places and communities.

+ 12

Read on to discover the full list of organizations, people, and practices in re:arc’s 2024 cohort. The funding model includes three branches: Grants, the Practice Lab and Initiatives.

Graham Foundation Awards 64 Grants for Architecture and Design Projects with Critical Perspectives in 2023

Grants, 2023-24 Cycle

The grants represent re:arc institute’s mission to promote innovation and support scale-proven solutions to climate crisis and social inequality. The program is particularly focused on the needs of marginalized groups, providing flexible funding across three areas of interest: Social Participatory Education; Collective Ownership; and Intersectional Biodiversity & Climate Care. The 2023-24 grantee cohort encompasses a diverse range of organizations and initiatives. Among them, Catalytic Communities is actively involved in securing social and ecological justice in Rio de Janeiro's favelas; Comunal Taller de Arquitectura collaborates with rural and indigenous communities in Mexico to improve living conditions, while Fundación Organizmo pioneers low-impact construction techniques and ecological restoration in Colombia.

Global Alliance for Green & Gender Action (GAGGA) – Global, focused on Biodiversity & Climate
African Biodiversity Network Continental – Africa, focused on Biodiversity & Climate
Climate Emergency Software Alliance (CESA) – Indonesia, Global, focused on Biodiversity & Climate
Fundación Oasis Urbano – Colombia, focused on Collective Ownership
Catalytic Communities – Brazil, focused on Collective Ownership
Fundación Organizmo – Colombia, focused on Biodiversity & Climate, Participatory Education
Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) – Kenya, focused on Collective Ownership
Comunal Taller de Arquitectura – Mexico, focused on Participatory Education
Council of Minorities – Bangladesh, focused on Collective Ownership

Initiatives, 2023–24 Cycle

The re:arc institute aims to promote awareness of social and ecological issues through collaborative projects, educational programs, and gatherings. The programming focuses on three main categories: Media-based initiatives for projects that strive to deepen the social relationship with the built environment, Network-based initiatives for community-building projects, and Education-based initiatives, highlighting educator’s influence on architecture and design practices. Forthcoming initiatives include a series of convenings and urban experiments such as the Network for Ecological Futures, organized by Taeyoon Choi to connect artists, activists, and designers, or the urban experiments organized by urbanist Gabriella Gómez-Mont in Bogotá.

Network for Ecological Futures / Taeyoon Choi in collaboration with ArtCom Platform, UnMake Lab & Mina Kim – Seoul, South Korea, focused on Network
A Residency for Fugitives* / MAIA Group & the Black Land and Spatial Justice Project – Birmingham, United Kingdom, focused on Network, Media
Embodied Restoration Lab / AFARAI – Rotterdam, The Netherlands & Global, focused on Education, Network & Media
The House We Must Build / Thandi Loewenson & Huda Tayob – Dakar, Senegal, Harare, Zimbabwe, Johannesburg, South Africa & Nairobi, Kenya, focused on Education
Care & Architectures for Collective Life / The Institute for Everything In-Between in collaboration with Gabriella Gomez-Mont – Bogota, Colombia, focused on Network, Media
Pororoca: Abraz(ç)o de río e mar / Catalina Mejia Moreno in collaboration with Gabriela Leandro Pereira & Felipe Arturo – Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, Barranquilla, Colombia & London, United Kingdom, focused on Education
It’s Not That Radical School of Organising / Jess Mally & Mikaela Loach – United Kingdom & Global, focused on Education
Global South CLT (Community Land Trust) Network / Center for Community Land Trust Innovation – Global, focused on Network

Practice Lab, 2022–24 Cycle

The Practice Lab aims to encourage the process of learning by doing. The initiative supports research-based experiments to identify areas of focus and to scale the impact of re:arc’s work. The invited architecture studios contribute with proposals for local, self-initiated, and community-driven projects with the purpose of improving their social and ecological contexts. Among the invited studios, Mexico City-based studio Taller Capital focuses on urban design projects that address water management in their city, Dakar-based collective Worofila specializes in bioclimatic architecture and the use of local materials such as earth and typha, while London-based studio Material Cultures undertakes hands-on construction and refurbishment projects for a regenerative and low-carbon built environment.