Design for Freedom by Grace Farms

Gain meaningful insight into the ethical design practices incorporated into the new Bigfork Library, a Design for Freedom Pilot Project set to open its doors on August 6th! https://lnkd.in/e3V9ex-G In this newly-published article, Jessica Murray, NCIDQ, IIDA (Interior Designer at Cushing Terrell, the project team behind the Bigfork Library) provides an in-depth perspective on the Library, which will support the rural community of Bigfork, MT, including why its going to serve an impactful role as a Design for Freedom Pilot Project. "She said the involvement with Design For Freedom raises awareness about these issues on a local level, alerting the community, the client and the contractors involved to this humanitarian crisis in the industry," notes the article. This impactful feature also includes details on how Cushing Terrell incorporated ethical and sustainable material sourcing into the Bigfork Library, why sustainability goes hand-in-hand with a building's design, and Murray's own personal connection to the space and the vital role of libraries in any community. We are honored to have worked with Cushing-Terrell and the ImagineIF Library Foundation on the Bigfork Library and to know that it will make a difference for generations to come, both culturally and as a tangible display of a more humane and ethical building materials supply chain

Exciting news! We are partnering with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) to host a student design competition for the 2024-2025 academic year challenging individuals or teams of students to explore how architectural materials research and design can eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain. Our Senior Program Officer, Karen Kariuki, and Michael J. Crosbie (Professor, University of Hartford, and Design for Freedom Working Group member) are leading this important competition, furthering our commitment to connect the Design for Freedom by Grace Farms movement with the future leaders of the AEC industry.    This also marks another critical moment in our ongoing work with architecture students and schools across the country. We’ve been honored to present to students at such forward-thinking architectural institutions as The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Pratt Institute, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA), Notre Dame School of Architecture, and more.    Thank you to our Design for Freedom Working Group members, including Nat Oppenheimer (EVP, Senior Principal, TYLin | Silman Structural Solutions; Cooper Union Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture) Anna Dyson(Founding Director, Yale CEA), Dr. Harriet Harriss, Ph.D., James Slade FAIA, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, FAIA, Quilian Riano (Deans and Professors at Pratt Institute), fmr. Ambassador Luis C.deBaca and Phil Bernstein, (Yale School of Architecture, Associate Dean and Professor Adjunct), Frances Trubiano (Associate Professor of Architecture Chair, Graduate Group of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design), Nina Cooke John(Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation), and more who are dedicated to advancing our engagement with schools and universities.    Learn more about our student and university involvement at schools spanning engineering, law, business, sustainability and more, here: https://lnkd.in/eAHmT49M For more information about participating in ACSA’s 2025 Design for Freedom Competition: Ethical and Equitable Materiality to End Forced Labor and to access details about important dates, including an upcoming webinar on September 26th, visit: https://lnkd.in/e_KwJ7aj]

What are some of the ways architects and designers can support a more ethical and humane built environment? Here are some tips for getting started: 1 - Clearly outline the requirements to build slave-free from the very beginning of a project to ensure forced labor is eliminated in your supply chain. 2- Know which raw and composite materials are most at-risk of forced labor and select alternatives. 3 - Reassess what's in your materials library. Add important new resources about ethical building materials and supply chains and inquire whether each material is fabricated without forced labor. 4 - Develop a decision matrix for how to choose inputs and choose suppliers when conditions are unknown. 5 - Ensure your contract includes a substantial completion relief clause and includes expectations and the right to review. Protect yourself and lessen your risk with changes to contracts to ensure slave-free building. For even more tips to implement ethical material sourcing strategies into your practice and be part of the Design for Freedom movement to eradicate modern slavery in building materials supply chains, visit: https://lnkd.in/giZYuCAA Photo by Jacek Dolata

We sat down with Emily Scaros Altman, our Director of Arts Operations, Publications and Exhibits, to discuss Grace Farms’ first long-term Design for Freedom by Grace Farms exhibit With Every Fiber, which aims to inspire people to understand and care about the materials that make up the built world around us. Read the interview: https://lnkd.in/eRciuBnX Pictured: Emily Altman, our first Director of Arts Operations, Publications and Exhibits. Photo by Jacek Dolata.

“Listing Xinjiang and the aluminum sector in the FLR database is crucial for the regulation to have concrete impact on state-imposed forced labor in China.” Read more:https://lnkd.in/dYyUhGfJ

"The government targeted companies involved in making seafood, aluminum and footwear, citing their links to labor programs affecting Chinese minorities." https://lnkd.in/eb96dzcB

"What is so surprising, fascinating, and under-realized, is the enormous power of architecture to drive new outcomes and even humanitarian outcomes." - Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms. In April of this year, Sharon gave an impactful talk to a room full of budding entrepreneurs, taking part in the STVP - the Stanford Engineering Entrepreneurship Center's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series: https://lnkd.in/emJvFpBB One of the most poignant parts of the talk, throughout which Sharon shared her journey to becoming the innovative and inspirational entrepreneur she is today, was hearing her share the often overlooked ability of architecture to drive change, express values, and speak to all those who interact with it. A hallmark of our work and embedded in our site's SANAA-designed River building, is the belief that space communicates. With its ethical and sustainable design, it communicates our humanitarian mission to create a more ethical future through the Design for Freedom by Grace Farms movement. Its seamless lines and shape harmonize with nature, its glass-enclosed volumes welcome all to enjoy a hopeful connection to the environment and with each other. It breaks down barriers. Watch Sharon ask the future leaders of tomorrow to consider the impactful question – "what does space communicate?" inviting them to consider all of the possibilities and the ability they have to create new meaningful outcomes and use architecture as a means for good.

Our mission is to harness the power of the built environment for justice: to create a radical paradigm shift by removing forced and child labor from the building materials supply chain. Be part of the Design for Freedom movement! Download our Toolkit and explore resources that can help you introduce the Design for Freedom Principles to your team. Learn how to implement Design for Freedom Principles at each phase of a project in a way that is achievable and contributes to broad transformation of the building industry. Get the Toolkit now: https://lnkd.in/dRkxSQp7

Our Founding Director Grace Forrest took part in a powerful panel at the Oslo Freedom Forum, spotlighting modern slavery, the 2023 Global Slavery Index, and advocating for global action to combat exploitation. Modern slavery is on the rise, against a backdrop of increasingly complicated and protracted conflicts, a growing climate crisis, a global rollback on women’s rights, and diminishing migrant worker protections. The annual Forum in Norway brings together human rights advocates, exiled journalists, industry experts, renowned political activists, tech entrepreneurs and artists. 📰 Read more about the event: https://lnkd.in/g8dHrj9Z

Our Founding Creative Director, Chelsea Thatcher, provides meaningful insight on our commitment to address neurodiversity, embrace inclusivity, and foster respect and care for each other in a Papyrus Magazine feature: https://lnkd.in/gd9PzFcM Within the compelling article, written by Chelsea, readers will dive deeper into the intention behind our newly-launched Design for Freedom by Grace Farms exhibition, designed by Studio Cooke John Architecture + Design, with Pentagram, and featuring contributions from 20 preeminent designers, material suppliers, cultural institutions, and construction industry leaders. "We hope people leave the exhibition with a new perspective that involves considering these individuals and the materials that surround us daily," writes Chelsea of With Every Fiber, which seeks to inspire understanding about the materials that make up the built world around us and the human beings creating them. One of the most important parts of this piece is its emphasis on Grace Farms' mission to advance inclusivity and accessibility. In fact, we recently welcomed the team from Buro Happold for an inclusive design consultation rooted in neurodiversity, which Chelsea details in greater depth. Buro Happold is a longtime advocate for neurodiversity, going so far as to help draft new legislation in the UK to further advance neurodiversity, among their other incredible achievements to move this critical level of accessibility forward. As Chelsea writes, our efforts to create welcoming and comfortable experiences for neurodiverse visitors to Grace Farms is an extension of our efforts to "make choices that value human flourishing." "With Every Fiber reflects the phrase, 'with every fiber of my being', writes Chelsea. "Part of valuing and advocating for human flourishing is being inclusive. And this exhibition moves us closer to that goal." With Every Fiber is available to explore through an online virtual exhibit designed by Hayes Davidson and visitors can also learn about it on our digital guide on Bloomberg Connects. Both provide an opportunity to experience the exhibit different ways and through different mediums.