Over the past years, I've had the chance to engaged with architects and others who are leading impact-driven, cultural, and institutional initiatives, who recognize architecture's role in enhancing quality of life in the built environment and offer frameworks to achieve this. Amidst current global challenges and waning focus on the common good, such institutions are increasingly vital.
During a recent trip to Copenhagen, World Architecture Capital, I delved into the re:arc institute, a newly established nonprofit philanthropic association. Operating at the intersection of climate action and architecture philanthropy, it funds grassroots solutions serving as viable examples to tackle this, with transferable insights. With a "learning by doing" ethos, their Practice Lab conducts a global survey to identify and support practices in bringing prototypes to life. I sat down with Nicolay Boyadjiev, Practice Lab lead, to explore this innovative institutional model and its transformative impact on architectural practice.