New Year, new project? Get your skates on and enter the Open Architecture Challenge. Details below; the closing date of 15th January 2008 is looming.

"Funding Already in Place to Build Winning Design of AMD Open Architecture Challenge. AMD and Architecture for Humanity challenge the creative world to develop sustainable technology centers for underserved communities. Help connect 50% of the world to the Internet by 2015. Enter the AMD Open Architecture Challenge.

Challenge Award: The winning design team will have the opportunity to work on site with the community partner and Architecture for Humanity to build their design.

Architecture for Humanity and AMD invite architects, designers, students and others to participate in the AMD Open Architecture Challenge, an open design competition to help bring connectivity and computing power to communities that lack access to the Internet. Participants are charged with designing digital inclusion centers for up to three community organizations: the Kallari Association in Ecuador, SIDAREC in Kenya and Nyaya Health in Nepal. The technology centers will empower community members with the knowledge and information available via the Internet, helping residents to realize greater educational, social and business opportunities and take advantage of health-related resources."

To enter: http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge/

More details from Open Architecture Network below.

"The international competition is the first of its kind and was originally announced by Architecture for Humanity and AMD at this year’s TED conference in March. Each year, Architecture for Humanity will select a partner with whom they will execute a competition that reaches beyond the traditional bounds of architecture by challenging participants to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to improve living conditions around the world. Following the conclusion of each competition, Architecture for Humanity will post all design submissions on the Open Architecture Network (OAN), an open source online gathering place, which also launched at the TED conference.

"What sets this competition apart from others is that we are calling upon the global design community to help improve living conditions around the world," said Cameron Sinclair, executive director and co-founder, Architecture for Humanity. "By implementing the winning design, or designs, we are not only assigning a winner, but we are helping people in underserved communities to live and grow through access to technology."

In preparation for the inaugural challenge’s commencement, an international panel of 40 reviewers representing the fields of design, techology, environmental science and international development selected three potential community partners from more than 100 proposed sites in 35 countries.

The three potential community partners selected to participate in the Challenge include:

Kallari Association, Ecuador: Connecting a cooperative of indigenous chocolate producers and artisans in the Ecuadorian Amazon with the global marketplace by building a chocolate factory, a fair trade exchange and off-site satellite technology hubs.

SIDAREC, Kenya: Empowering the youth of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, an informal slum settlement of 250,000, to connect with other youth and create positive change in their community by building a technology media lab and library.

Nyaya Health, Nepal: Enabling families in a remote rural area of Nepal where there is only one doctor for a population of 250,000 to access to health care from top physicians and medical professionals all over the world by building a telemedicine center.

For more information on the AMD Open Architecture Challenge, or to register, please visit http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge."

Open Architecture Network