Appartment Building, Concepcion, Chile

I didn’t take action right away however, and when I did sit down to write (that is, to gather data and potential blog links) I learned the building code aspects of the story had already been well covered. It was a good idea, shared by many and developed quickly online. These writers had produced timely news-based posts for their blogs. I hadn’t.
 
Although this blog, Building Content, does address current events and trends, it is not intended to be a news blog, per se. News reporting, aggregation, and commentary are popular blog types, but Building Content has a different objective; it is specifically devoted to offering coaching and content to fellow architectural bloggers. The earthquake in Chile was no longer news, but it still held a story.
 
As I looked at how others were covering the earthquake, I saw a range of writers’ insights. The facts of the event were set (other than the rising death count, which is the human aspect that trumps all other data) but each writer beheld – or imposed – a different perspective on the story.
 
In my evaluation of blog coverage of the Chilean quake and building codes, I found the more pertinent theme for readers here:
 

A professional blog should manifest the writer’s a unique point of view.

 
In light of this, let me show you how five different bloggers have approached the building code aspects of the Chilean earthquake and presented the story to their readers in a unique way: 

USA Today – Lessons learned should be lessons applied; “I look at the reports of collapsing bridges and highways in Chile and worry what would happen here.”

The Huffington Post - The significance of preparedness; “No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.”

Treehugger – A refutation of “the Libertarian point of view (that) building codes are evil and an intrusion.”
 
 Seattle Times – A look at the socioeconomic context of the building codes; ”Poverty is what ultimately kills most people during an earthquake”

News busters – Exposing a political activist’s ”gotcha” quote about Haiti’s lack of building codes.
 

When you initiate a professional blog post be accurate with the facts and details, of course; but press beyond the raw data. Deliver your experience and expertise as well. Whether personally or professionally, share your unique point of view as you write. If you engage your audience and promote dialogue, your blog will be richer and your reader may, in time, become your client.

I have already discovered an online opportunity that in a simple way serves to confirm my assertion. It addresses the long-term needs of the citizens of Haiti while allowing designers to engage in problem-solving and idea-exploration; an ideal situation for today’s underworked architects.

HAITI EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER

 
The web-based group Spontaneous Architecture is sponsoring, as part of their ongoing monthly series, a mini-competition simply titled, “February 2010: Haiti“.

The competition identifies a handful of Port-au-Prince sites including the National Place and other nearby collapsed institutions. The issue is posed; “People talk about emergency shelter. What about emergency institutions” such as medical, judicial, economic and educational? It is a very open-ended program, in that, “responses can be strategic, organizational, institutional, and/or architectural.”

The challenge to this grand program however is in its presentation. Design concepts are to be submitted as a single 8 1/2″ x 11″ image along with a $5 entry fee. Competition entrants will also serve as the jury via online voting! The entry fees will be split between Haiti-directed charity and the winning designer. The full competition details are located here, but let it suffice to say this is an example of things to come; where a non-client entity initiates the design program, where architects compete and collaborate online, and where costs to participate approach zero and where a larger cultural/social body is served.

As architects we need to be operating in the brave new online world – through our own blogs and other social media platforms – and capitalize on opportunities as they arise. Please look into this Spontaneous Architecture competition and share your thoughts with us here.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to use online tools and social networks to help restore some of those architectural jobs. Feel free to ask, “how could that be done?” I’m asking that question too, and discussing it with others. Though still searching, I am finding hope in a most unlikely situation – the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. There we see powerful and effective use of technology to fund the rescue and to promote the restoration of the Haitian people.

Keep in mind; these technological gains are apart from the generosity of entertainment celebrities who have offered their talents in the Hope for Haiti Now Telethon and a host of other venues. They are also distinct from the tens of millions offered by corporations and the even greater totals pledged by the US government and other nations. Beyond these traditional mass means of relief, technology has allowed the individual concerned citizen to give and to effect change directly.

As of Friday, January 22nd (ten days after the quake) the American Red Cross had raised the most money of the agencies involved. Approximately $3,000,000 (30%) of the Red Cross donations came in $10 increments through their popular “text ‘Haiti’ to 90999″ campaign. These texted funds tower over amounts similarly given after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 or hurricane Katrina in 2005 – evidence that mobile-text giving has emerged as potent means of fund-raising.

Another technology-based aspect of the Haiti earthquake aftermath is a digital message board hosted by the New York Times where loved ones have posted photos and details of missing family members. I suppose the site serves primarily as a notification system whereby relief workers on the ground in can identify and provide status updates of the people pictured. The site has another far-reaching purpose. It serves to shift our understanding of the story, to help us process it in on a more human scale; to hope and pray for the rescue of that specific smiling face rather than a generic anonymous victim. It provides names and context as a focus for our compassion.

Of course, the scope and intensity of the Haiti earthquake overpower our day-to-day concerns, even those of deep and prolonged unemployment. The magnitude of human suffering in Haiti quickly puts our professional struggles into perspective. We should however take note of the new uses of technology and seek to apply their funding and networking capabilities to the needs in our own field.

Thank you for caring. Please share you thoughts and ideas.