Our Beliefs

Our involvement for International solidarity is based on the need to re-emphasise the idea of architectural intervention with the needs expressed by social realities.



2005

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Our Action is based on the premise that :

1. Habitat needs to has become a major concern and component in the developmental policy - Due to the phenomena of urbanization, the relationship between urban and rural development needs to be re-addressed and this involves a change in the process of economic, cultural and social developments.

2. Much more needs to be done by the professionals to achieve a more holistic habitat paradigm - The architectural practice in the South has become complex, the actors of international solidarity have changed as well as the contexts of intervention. The traditional players need to modify their strategies and the technicians need to evolve in their professional skills. The projects inevitably encounter a shortage of means and competences : the questions arise are concerned with, the appropriate construction techniques, new planning and management tools, information technologies, the environmental challenges, all that are not sufficiently integrated in a global and sustainable developmental perspective.

3. Role of the architect cannot be reduced to a simple technical answer but needs to include long term sustainability approaches - The current training of the architects remains not too very open to the diversity of new practices. The role of the architect must be able to coordinate its work within a multi-disciplinary framework and should be at the service of a global community. For the architect, the culture of the project is also a culture of the development : the professional practices in North as in the South are confronted with the same difficulties (exclusion, strong urbanization, social conflicts, economic crisis...).