Winner of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Africa Challenge

Architecture for Humanity and AMD just announced the winners of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge: Digital Inclusion, a global competition to develop technology facilities for communities in need, from the 50x15 Africa Partner Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. The competition received 566 registered entries from 57 countries. The winners, including one overall competition winner and two regional site winners, were determined by an international review board of jurors comprised of architects, technologists, and community members. The overall competition winner and Africa challenge site winner is The Global Studio of Seattle, WA, USA, for its design of a technology media lab and recording studio for SIDAREC, located in an informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya. With the construction of this media lab, Lucy Mathai and George Onyango, both founders of SIDAREC, hope their community will become “the next Silicon Valley.”

As the winner of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge, The Global Studio will see their ideas come to life in the heart of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. With full construction financing made possible with funding by AMD and the 50x15 Initiative the team will collaborate with Architecture for Humanity and SIDAREC, the recipient local community organization, to build their winning solution. The Global Studio’s innovative design will help empower and enrich the lives of thousands of children in the heart of this vast unplanned settlement.