Cameron Sinclair is the co-founder and executive director of Architecture for Humanity, a six-year-old 501(c)3 charitable organization that promotes architecture and design solutions to humanitarian crises and provides design services to communities in need. Currently he is working in six countries on projects ranging from school building, tsunami and hurricane reconstruction to developing mobile medical facilities to combat HIV/AIDS. He trained as an architect at the University of Westminster (BArch Hons) and at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. During his studies, Mr. Sinclair developed an interest in social, cultural and humanitarian design. His postgraduate thesis focused on providing shelter to New York’s homeless population through sustainable, transitional housing. After completing his studies, he moved to New York, where he has worked as a designer and project architect. From 1996 to 2002, Sinclair worked on projects in more than 20 countries including England, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States. While working with Lauster/Radu Architects, he worked on the restoration of the Brancusi sculptural complex and a 30-year rejuvenation plan for the town of Tirgu Jiu, Romania. This project received the AIA/BSA Willo von Molke Urban Design Award in 1999. Other projects included a health center for UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) and a mixed-use redevelopment plan for Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. As a project architect with Gensler, he helped design the award-winning School of the International Center of Photography in Manhattan and was a key member in the disaster recovery team for Lehman Brothers after terrorist attacks destroyed their offices in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Sinclair is a regular guest critic and lecturer at schools and colleges in the United States and abroad. He has spoken at a number of conferences including the Fortune Brainstorm Conference, the UIA World Congress on Architecture, the International Design Conference in Aspen and the Art Center Design Conference in Pasadena, California. He has been a regular guest speaker on NPR, CBC and BBC World Service. In addition to Architecture for Humanity, Sinclair is currently an adjunct professor at the Montana State University School of Architecture and in the spring of 2006 was the Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Additionally he serves on the advisory board for the Detroit Collaborative Design Center and Kids With Cameras. He has contributed to a number of exhibitions dealing with social justice and design. He is also a contributor for World Changing and, with Kate Stohr, is writing a book on humanitarian design, Design Like You Give A Damn. In August 2004, Fortune magazine named him as one of the Aspen Seven, seven people changing the world for the better. |