Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz, via Flickr

In the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake, countless relief organizations have stepped up to provide immediate aid to the Caribbean nation. Architects and designers are contributing as well, and with good reason: Since much of the damage could have been avoided with strictly enforced building codes or earthquake-proof structures, the architecture community will play a key role in ensuring that this disaster does not happen again.

Currently, Cameron Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity are leading the way in reconstruction planning, wisely eschewing a build-now, plan-later approach in favor of a long-term initiative. You can read AFH’s seven-point reconstruction plan here.

Long-term planning is essential, but so is short-term relief. Here is a look at some of the more immediate initiatives proposed by the architecture and design community. (If you know of any important programs we missed, please leave a comment below or send us an e-mail with the details.)

• Article 25 is a UK based charity organization that believes that all people deserve adequate housing and shelter. It designs and delivers architectural solutions worldwide to those in need. Article 25 vowed to monitor the international response effort to determine the coordination between key agencies to ensure success in the reconstruction of Haiti.

• The USGBC pledged its support to “rescue and rebuild” Haiti. In the past, the organization has worked in similar natural disaster zones in New Orleans and Greensburg and now promises similar long-term assistance. In the meantime for immediate aid, those interested are asked to donate through the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund.

• Habitat for Humanity is working to address the problem of immediate shelter in Haiti. The organization is removing the rubble of fallen buildings to begin the rebuilding process. Habitat is also working to provide transitional housing for families displaced by the disaster.

• Engineers without Borders is not providing direct relief.  But it is rallying support for the cause by seeking out French and/or Creole speaking volunteer engineers to assist in the rebuilding process. Since EWB has several ongoing projects in Haiti, it is also possible to donate through its Web site. Read more…

This week’s Accessibility Watch is travelling south to Rutledge, Georgia. About 50 miles outside of Atlanta, it is home to Camp Twin Lakes, where children with serious illnesses and other life challenges can still enjoy the summer-camp experience, thanks to amenities like climate-controlled cabins, fully accessible recreation facilities, and an on-site medical center. Last summer, the camp opened a monumental tree house, the kind that most children can only dream of. It has five different spaces, it’s filled with fresh air and natural light, and most importantly, it’s wheelchair accessible.

The design originated from the campers themselves. Read more…

Three years ago, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) expanded into a titanium-clad addition by Daniel Libeskind, which, typical of the architect, features a dramatic series of jagged outcroppings and angular interiors. The new building has quickly become a symbol of the Mile High City, but a number of critics have balked at its asymmetrical galleries, arguing that they are poor spaces in which to display art. Now the DAM is confronting those criticisms with an exhibition, opening tomorrow, titled Embrace! The show’s curator, Christoph Heinrich—who was recently named the museum’s new director—invited 17 artists from around the world to, yes, embrace the museum’s unique design and use the architecture itself as a canvas for their work. Here’s a look at what several of the artists came up with. Read more…

See more photos at www.flickr.com/photos/realgoodexperiment/.

New York City is one of the few places where it is socially acceptable, and even encouraged, to rummage through curb-side trash. There is no shame in this. All New Yorkers know someone who has found a treasure on the curb: a rare first-edition book, say, or a good-as-new couch. The question is inevitably the same: “Who would throw this out?”

For the next two days, Blu Dot is honoring this cherished urban pastime with the Real Good Chair Experiment. In collaboration with mono, Blu Dot will place chairs all over the city, free for the taking. But there is a slight catch: most of these chairs, valued at well over $100, are GPS-enabled. Blu Dot will use the devices to track the chairs’ voyage for a documentary debuting this December, to mark the one-year anniversary of the company’s Soho store.

But don’t worry: GPS or no, if you happen to stumble across one of the chairs, it’s finders keepers! The rest of us will have to be content to track the chairs’ progress at realgood.bludot.com.

In 1939 a young woman named Marie opened a hair salon in Randers, Denmark. Money was tight so she asked her husband, Holger, a metalsmith, to help furnish the store. One of his resulting creations—a sturdy stainless-steel trash can with a rubber foot pedal—caught the eye of locals and, before long, Holger was filling commissions all over central Denmark.

Fast forward seven decades: Read more…

In aerial photos, the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park—also known simply as “100 Acres”—looks like a remote swath of unspoiled nature, with a forest and wetlands surrounding a pristine lake. In reality, you’re looking at the newest addition to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The IMA created the park out of an old gravel pit and construction yard—and, next June, 100 Acres will finally be complete with the installation of eight site-specific works by an impressive roster of international artists. Read more…

The Electrolux Design Lab announced the winners of its 2009 competition yesterday afternoon. As in past years, the relatively narrow brief—it challenges industrial-design students to “create thoughtfully-designed products that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes and do dishes over the next nine decades”—yielded a range of interesting proposals for the domestic sphere. Top prize went to Rickard Hederstierna, of Sweden’s Lund Institute of Technology, for his Cocoon meat and fish maker (above), which, according to a press release, “prepares genetically engineered and pre-packaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) signals.” Yum? Read more…