ABOUT
Design for Communities (D4C) is an NGO based in Beirut that brings together designers and professionals from a variety of backgrounds to engage in community projects in different countries. The interdisciplinary platform connects architects, landscape & urban designers, planners, environmental, climate, mechanical & civil engineers through a diverse portfolio of projects operating at the highest levels of innovation in the field.
MISSION
Our mission is to empower the design community to actively collaborate, engage, learn and implement innovative and sustainable projects to improve the quality of life of the local communities.
VISION
Our vision is to have an impact driven design hub that develops innovative sustainable community-based programs and projects.
Values
Responsibility / Integrity / Inclusivity / Inspiration / Learning
Provide spaces & facilities for a sustainable development of neglected communities
Develop projects that foster social solidarity
Help to preserving the culture & heritage of the community
Engage in nature preservation projects
Increase the quality of life in marginalized communities
Educate students & young professionals in the field of community service
Empower disadvantaged groups to become agents of change in their local communities
OUR METHODOLOGY
The D4C platform adopts an action-oriented research approach within a professional framework to engage in relief and reconstruction projects. By addressing and intervening in areas of conflict, D4C acts as a catalyst for sustainable development of relief structures and reconstruction in order to improve the lives of some of the country’s most marginalized communities.
The D4C initiative applies substantial knowledge and expertise in architecture, heritage preservation, landscape and urban design, sustainability, and civil engineering to create innovative solutions capable of specifically addressing the challenges posed by migration, displacement, and reconstruction.
The experimental nature of D4C is its source of strength in that research, innovation, and exploration in the field inform the innovativeness of its interventions. Through its involvement in academia D4C is also able to organize workshops for students and young professionals as a means of engaging enthusiastic young architects and engineers with authorities in the field looking to address some of the most pressing social and cultural issues of our time. This encourages sustainable project development within a participatory process that directly engages beneficiaries and locals alike.
OUR roadmap
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Research begins with a comprehensive survey of the marginalized community in question and a thorough understanding of the context within which it exists. D4C is able to develop relevant design strategies and sustainable solutions for the issues at hand through this rigorous dedication to research. The platform concerns itself with the design and exploration of innovative strategies that draw on local vernacular design while also engaging the technical expertise of the team. Thorough data analysis, simulations, material testing, and prototype fabrication inform the application of D4C’s cost-efficient and ecologically respectful relief efforts. Learn More
DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION
D4C is engaged in the design and implementation of community-based projects such as schools, libraries, vocational centers, and medical clinics in service of neglected and marginalized communities. Projects work to limit the effects of conflict and disaster, restore and rehabilitate architectural heritage, and aid in the protection of the natural environment. To bring these projects to life, D4C teams up with NGOs and international agencies as well as local and national authorities and educational institutions. D4C takes on the responsibility of design and implementation through the solicitation of projects, the preparation of the brief, and the acquisition of funding while also bringing together professionals, specialists, and scholars across a variety of fields.
REACH OUT TO US
Design for Communities (D4C Beirut)
Sadat Street, Aramouny Building, Floor 2
Hamra, Beirut, Lebanon
info@d4communities.org
+96170758269
Organizer: Karim Najjar (Founder/President)
Ministry of Interior Affairs, Lebanon Reg. Nr. 2062