Time for Impact

New generations of designers are joining forces to face global challenges through new program, Time for impact, which was announced during the Venice Biennale on May 26, 2016.

An innovative program, a design issue, a conscious act of rewriting the great challenges that architecture has to actively take on today. The initiators are a team made up of Italian and Dutch professionals who, at the opening of the 15th annual Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, announced the need to define new possible paths for architecture and its social role.

Time for Imapct, curated by Gianpiero Venturini together with Marthijn Pool and in collaboration with AiD (Architecture in Development), is one of the seven projects financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Rome after a call, titled “Sfide delle Città”, that was launched last year.

The project is straightforward in its structure: on one side, professionals pledge their time; on the other side, design missions are collected. But it represents a great challenge in itself because it aims at reallocating design resources.

In tune with the grassroots approach of Alejandro Aravena’s just inaugurated Architecture Biennale, titled “Reporting From the Front”, Time for Impact founds its strength on the extended network of relations it is building among the younger and more independent designers. Building networks is also at the basis of new generations’ approach that explores professional models that may counterbalance the big names of world architecture.

“Why does the architecture industry invest huge amounts of creativity and time in design competitions, knowing that only few contributors will be rewarded for their effort? What kind of impact could this industry have if only a fraction of this time was collectively spent on urgent global issues? Is it possible to increase the social relevance of architecture by collectively re-thinking the way architects spend their time?”

These were some of the questions at the centre of the debate that saw participation from the likes of of Floris Alkemade, Ole Bouman, Beatrice Galilee, Joseph Grima, Luca Molinari, Rogier van den Berg and Marco Brizzi as the moderator.

As an online platform, Time for Impact works as an architectural time bank and kickstarting tool, promoting urgent challenges in the built environment that are in need of design expertise, spatial know-how and budget. Creative people from all over the world are invited to pledge their time and collectively boost socially relevant projects.

“As architecture touches on all relevant levels of society, we consider it important to increase public awareness of the phenomenon. Architecture has been at risk of growing apart from society,” say the Italian and Dutch curators.

The objective for the organisers is to reach 5000+ supporters, who will pledge their time to collaborate on selected challenges, in the next four months. Participation in terms of time pledging will be open on the Time for Impact website until November 27, 2016.