Cameron Sinclair

Cameron Sinclair is the co-founder and 'chief eternal optimist' (CEO) for Architecture for Humanity.

Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)3 charitable organisation that promotes architecture and design solutions to humanitarian crises and provides design services to communities in need. Sinclair is currently working in nine countries on projects ranging from school building, tsunami and hurricane reconstruction to developing medical facilities to combat HIV/Aids in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sinclair was trained as an architect at the University of Westminster and at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. During his studies, he developed an interest in social, cultural and humanitarian design. His postgraduate thesis focused on providing shelter to New York's homeless population through sustainable, transitional housing. After completing his studies, he moved to New York where he has worked for five years as a designer and project architect.

He has contributed to a number of exhibitions dealing with social justice and design, as well as serving as a regular guest critic and lecturer at schools and colleges in the United States and abroad. In addition to Architecture for Humanity, he serves on the housing advisory board for the Acumen Fund and is part of the US-Japan Innovators Forum. In 2006 he contributed to the book WorldChanging: A User's Guide For The 21st Century and, along with Kate Stohr, co-edited on a book on humanitarian design called Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, published by Thames and Hudson.

In 2004 Fortune magazine named Cameron Sinclair as one of "seven people changing the world for the better". He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2005 RISD Emerging Designer of the Year, the Lewis Mumford Award for Peace and, with Kate Stohr, the Wired magazine 2006 Rave Award for Architecture for their work in responding to housing needs following Hurricane Katrina and the development of the Open Architecture Network, an online collaborative network to develop open source solutions to humanitarian crises. Sinclair was also one of three winners of the 2006 TED Prize, which honours visionaries from any field who have shown they can "positively impact life on this planet".