Article 25 is a UK-based international NGO and registered charity number 1112621 that manages sustainable architecture projects in areas of extreme poverty and disaster. Article 25 works with other INGO partners to design and deliver hospitals, schools and housing, increasing and improving access to healthcare, education and adequate shelter for some of the world's most vulnerable individuals and groups around the globe.
History
Article 25 was established in 2005 by Maxwell Hutchinson and Vicky Harris, with Jack Pringle. Maxwell originally named the Charity "Architects for Aid", but the brief of the organisation expanded quickly and the new name Article 25 therefore made reference to the principles of the 25th Article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that safe and adequate shelter is a fundamental human right.[1] Caught up in the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, architect Maxwell Hutchinson recognised the potential impact the built environment could have on saving lives and preventing natural hazards from turning into full-blown disasters. Since it was formed, Article 25 has been governed by a distinguished trustee board including three RIBA Presidents, Maxwell Hutchinson, Sunand Prasad and Jack Pringle.[2] The Patron of Article 25 is Norman Foster, a key figure in British modernist architecture. The team set up the organisation after Maxwell Hutchinson was nearly killed in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. This life changing experience inspired him to try to ensure Architecture protected the world better. He asked Vicky and Jack to help him realise this vision. On 31st October 2005 the Charity was formed with Jack as Chair, Maxwell as President, and Vicky as the CEO. Jack remains a Trustee today, ensuring security and continuity for Article 25 throughout two decades. Many of the UK's great architects and several RIBA presidents have also been trustees over the years.
Activity
Article 25’s projects range from one-off building projects for community-based organisations to large master planning projects for international organisations, including technical consultancy services for NGOs who have little access to vital design expertise. Article 25 has worked with the UN, the Red Cross and Crescent, governments (including being funded by DFID in the UK), numerous NGOs and the worlds most prominent relief organisations. Article 25 has taken the lead on reconstruction and development projects including building schools in Haiti,[3] hurricane resistant homes in Dominica,[4] and earthquake resistant homes in Pakistan.
Some of the completed projects include an award-winning seismically resistant sustainable housing programme in Northern Pakistan with Muslim Aid which received the prestigious 2009 Urban Land Institute Award, Asia Pacific section, and an award-nominated school for street children in Goa, India, with El Shaddai Street Child Rescue, which was the very first project the charity undertook. Other projects include work as far afield as Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Tanzania amongst others. The charity has delivered over 95 projects in 34 countries across five continents, including a collaboration with Prince Harry's charity Sentebale, based in Lesotho, where Article 25 built the often pictured orphanage and school still run by Sentebale.
In 2022, Article 25's Collège Amadou Hampaté Bâ project[5] in Niamey, Niger was named as one of Architonic's Projects of the Year.[6] The project was credited for using low-carbon local materials and for the charity's work to train local masons.
