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TANIA GARBE<br />
<strong>portfolio</strong><br />
WORK SAMPLES | GRID Impact
EDUCATION + FIELDWORK<br />
UC Berkeley 2003<br />
BA Architecture<br />
BA Psychology<br />
UT Austin 2009<br />
Masters in Architecture<br />
My experience in social<br />
impact and public interest<br />
design, has included<br />
working with Alejandro<br />
Aravena in Chile, leading a<br />
Design-Build program in<br />
the Himalayas of Ladakh,<br />
field research for a Care<br />
Center in the Gobi Desert of<br />
Mongolia, building a straw<br />
bale Day Care on a N.<br />
Cheyenne Indian reservation<br />
in Montana, planning<br />
for an orphanage bakery in<br />
Haiti, and founding a social<br />
enterprise in NYC.<br />
Social<br />
Edu + Fieldwork Impact<br />
Lame Deer, MT<br />
UC Berkeley<br />
Arcosanti<br />
UT Austin<br />
Santiago<br />
New York<br />
Haiti<br />
Ladakh<br />
Byankhongor<br />
Sydney
I am the founder + director<br />
of Design With Benefits, a<br />
social enterprise at the<br />
intersection of design and<br />
social impact. We curate<br />
design from small businesses<br />
that are making a<br />
difference environmentally,<br />
socially, and ethically.<br />
Products can be filtered by<br />
their positive impact, in<br />
categories like environment,<br />
poverty, education,<br />
equity, and animal welfare.<br />
Our creative director and I<br />
are jointly responsible for<br />
all of the web and graphic<br />
design throughout the site.<br />
In 2012, we won a grant to<br />
participate in Start-Up<br />
Chile, a well respected<br />
international tech accelerator<br />
in Santiago.<br />
Design With Benefits Social<br />
Enterprise
As a social enterprise, an<br />
important part of our<br />
business model is donating<br />
a portion of our net profits<br />
to social programs. These<br />
are typically creative<br />
non-profits and organizations<br />
which are welding<br />
design as a tool to solve<br />
social or environmental<br />
issues.<br />
Each month we feature 3 of<br />
these organizations and<br />
our visitors vote on which<br />
they would like to see<br />
receive our next donation.<br />
The organization with the<br />
most votes receives 7% of<br />
our total net profits from<br />
the following two months.<br />
Design With Benefits Social<br />
Enterprise
Right:<br />
I created all the graphics<br />
and marketing materials for<br />
Design With Benefits, like<br />
the Gift Guide shown here,<br />
featuring product design<br />
that gives back.<br />
Far Right:<br />
The Dish is a section of<br />
Design With Benefits<br />
dedicated to news in the<br />
realm of public interest<br />
design. Here we feature<br />
stories, projects, and<br />
organizations that are<br />
using design for social<br />
impact.<br />
Design With Benefits Social<br />
Enterprise
At ELEMENTAL in Chile, I<br />
worked on several low<br />
income housing reconstruction<br />
projects following<br />
the major earthquake of<br />
2010. Alejandro Aravena’s<br />
philosophy is to select sites<br />
closer to the city center,<br />
spending more of the<br />
budget on a site with direct<br />
access to social services of<br />
the city.<br />
Next, instead of building a<br />
cheaply constructed larger<br />
home, we built 1/2 of a high<br />
quality one, specifically the<br />
portions that are difficult<br />
for families to build on their<br />
own. When they are able to<br />
afford it, they can add on to<br />
their homes in various ways<br />
to complete the footprint.<br />
Alejandro Aravena<br />
ELEMENTAL<br />
Social Housing<br />
TYPOLOGY 5 AS BUILT<br />
TYPOLOGY 5 WITH ADDITIONS
Building only half of each<br />
house from the outset, and<br />
allowing families to design<br />
and construct the remainder,<br />
assures that housing<br />
developments are vibrant,<br />
not sterile or monotonous.<br />
Families take pride and<br />
ownership of houses which<br />
they have helped build.<br />
Each housing development<br />
includes one or more<br />
community centers. These<br />
are public buildings<br />
available for various shared<br />
uses, such as neighborhood<br />
meetings, gatherings,<br />
volunteer medical and<br />
dental services, and child<br />
care, for example.<br />
Alejandro Aravena<br />
ELEMENTAL<br />
Social Housing<br />
COMMUNITY CENTERS
I created a construction and<br />
maintenance manual for<br />
new homeowners with<br />
step-by-step graphic<br />
instructions to clearly and<br />
simply communicate often<br />
complex info.<br />
Alejandro Aravena<br />
ELEMENTAL<br />
(a)<br />
(b) (c) (d)<br />
The construction portion of<br />
the manual includes<br />
detailed descriptions and<br />
graphic depictions of<br />
construction steps for<br />
various additions.<br />
The maintenance manual<br />
lays out a schedule which<br />
owners can follow to<br />
ensure proper upkeep and<br />
timely repairs on their first<br />
home.<br />
Social Housing<br />
(e) (f) (g) (h)
We ran workshops to show<br />
families various options for<br />
the portion of their homes<br />
they build themselves.<br />
Workshops covered design<br />
possibilities, construction<br />
steps, and the do's + don’ts<br />
of building additions.<br />
I designed and produced a<br />
template for making a scale<br />
paper mock up of a housing<br />
block that participants<br />
could cut and fold from a<br />
single sheet of paper, and<br />
then draw on to test out<br />
various possibilities.<br />
Alejandro Aravena<br />
ELEMENTAL<br />
Social Housing<br />
CUT<br />
FACADE<br />
FOLD FORWARD<br />
FOLD BACKWARD<br />
FOLD 180˚ AND PASTE
Alejandro Aravena<br />
Santiago, Chile<br />
Workshop participants test<br />
out various facade options,<br />
building additions, and<br />
green areas.<br />
Social Housing
In 2014, I co-founded<br />
MAKINGOODESIGN (with<br />
Rachel Crawford of<br />
desigNYC). Held during<br />
NYCxDesign (a city-wide<br />
celebration of design in<br />
NYC), the event series aims<br />
to celebrate and honor the<br />
innovative people and<br />
organizations in NYC using<br />
design for social good.<br />
The series is now in its 2nd<br />
year and working in collaboration<br />
with AIANY’s New<br />
York Emerging Architects<br />
Committee + AFHny.<br />
MAKINGOODESIGN Social<br />
Impact
Pop-Up Shop<br />
A 3-day pop-up shop of<br />
socially conscious designs<br />
at the BKLYN DESIGNS Fair<br />
in DUMBO. Passers-by were<br />
invited to participate in<br />
NYC’s first “Bench Diary”.<br />
Panel Discussion<br />
Co-hosted with Pratt<br />
Institute and entitled New<br />
Models in the Business of<br />
Design for Social Change.<br />
Moderated by Wendy<br />
Goodman, Design Editor of<br />
New York Magazine.<br />
Good-Maker Awards<br />
Party celebrating NYC’s<br />
design-for-good organizations,<br />
+ the winners of our<br />
Good Maker Awards. Profits<br />
made from live illustrated<br />
sketchbooks go towards NY<br />
social impact initiatives.<br />
MAKINGOODESIGN Social<br />
Impact
NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION<br />
Jessica Braun and I spent 6<br />
weeks of fieldwork in<br />
Mongolia, designing a Care<br />
Center for disabled<br />
children. Our site was a<br />
town on the edge of the<br />
Gobi desert, a 13-hour drive<br />
on dirt roads from the<br />
capital. Our charge was to<br />
design a facility to support<br />
both disabled children and<br />
the parents struggling to<br />
care for them.<br />
The end product was a<br />
30-page book we produced<br />
to inform and educate the<br />
local population on the<br />
design and construction of<br />
the proposed building,<br />
while garnering international<br />
support to fund the<br />
project. A solo exhibit of<br />
our work took place at the<br />
University of Texas, Austin.<br />
Disabled Children<br />
Bayankhongor, Mongolia<br />
Care Center<br />
For<br />
Монгол Улс
The book we produced for<br />
this Mongolian community<br />
outlined the details of our<br />
design, and graphically<br />
depicted how to use<br />
inexpensive and abundant<br />
materials such as rammed<br />
earth, glass bottles and<br />
gabion construction, as<br />
well as other applicable<br />
sustainable building<br />
practices.<br />
The design was largely<br />
driven by harsh local conditions<br />
including high winds,<br />
debilitating dust storms,<br />
high-altitude desert, very<br />
little ground water + no<br />
vegetation.<br />
Disabled Children<br />
Bayankhongor, Mongolia<br />
Care Center<br />
For<br />
evening light grazes the floor of a ger<br />
low-angle evening light due to unobstructed horizon<br />
same light condition recreated<br />
construction detail<br />
Гэр Ger Light<br />
The construction of the ger<br />
allows stack ventilation by raising<br />
the felt covering in warm<br />
weather. This functional<br />
modification has the added<br />
benefit of capturing the grazing<br />
light of Mongolia’s long summer<br />
evenings. The design of the Care<br />
Center features low windows that<br />
will wash the floor with light and<br />
illuminate the realm of children.<br />
raised felt flaps admit both air and light<br />
Чулуун хана Gabion Walls<br />
Portions of the perimeter fence will be gabion walls.<br />
Rocks are plentiful and free in Bayankhongor, especially<br />
at the site of the new Center. Wire mesh is used to<br />
create 80 by 30 cm baskets that can be filled with rocks.<br />
These baskets are then stacked like bricks, one course<br />
overlapping the next to form a wall. The rocks will<br />
collect heat from the sun during the day and provide a<br />
warm place for a bench.<br />
river rocks in BK<br />
site cross section<br />
Book Pages: Ger Light (left) + Gabion Construction (right)<br />
80 cm<br />
wire mesh<br />
30cm
Behavioral Design<br />
The Center’s program<br />
addresses the physical and<br />
emotional needs of the<br />
children, while educating<br />
their parents on proper<br />
care.<br />
Countering dust storms,<br />
wind, and long winters, the<br />
design attempts to mediate<br />
the extremes of the<br />
Mongolian experience.<br />
The intimacy and warmth<br />
of the Mongolian hearth<br />
offers respite from the<br />
harsh Gobi landscape,<br />
while vernacular, nomadic<br />
building traditions are<br />
incorporated into the<br />
existing Soviet-influenced<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Disabled Children<br />
Bayankhongor, Mongolia<br />
Care Center<br />
For<br />
Care Center Plan<br />
men’s<br />
side<br />
altar<br />
hearth<br />
door<br />
women’s<br />
side<br />
Mongolian Ger (yurt)<br />
Зуух<br />
Hearth<br />
The hearth is the locus of ger life. Warmth<br />
through long winters and food preparation are<br />
not its only functions. Life’s daily rituals, from<br />
household chores to tea drinking, happen here.<br />
Likewise in the Care Center, the hearth will<br />
provide residents and visitors with a warm,<br />
social space. As the heart of the building, the<br />
hearth occupies the center of the main activity<br />
room around which children play and group<br />
functions are held.<br />
Book Pages: Hearth (left) + Typical ger (right)
Extensive in-country field<br />
research led us to discover<br />
untapped resources such as<br />
a local sewing collective that<br />
generates heaps of beautiful<br />
fabric scraps we incorporated<br />
into our design:<br />
The courtyard is enclosed by<br />
a fence welded from local<br />
scrap rebar. Each bay is<br />
designed with 2 u-sections<br />
for children to attach small<br />
art projects utilizing the<br />
fabric scraps.<br />
The bright panels catch the<br />
frequent wind, acting as a<br />
colorful marker for the<br />
Center, and record the<br />
children passing through its<br />
doors. The design was<br />
inspired by local rock shrines<br />
that are draped in blue silk.<br />
Disabled Children<br />
Bayankhongor, Mongolia<br />
Care Center<br />
For<br />
Xашаа<br />
location in plan<br />
15cm<br />
100cm<br />
Fence Design<br />
The fence surrounding the care center will be<br />
welded from local scrap rebar. Each bay has 2<br />
u-sections where children can attach ribbon + cloth<br />
panels. These small art projects will utilize fabric<br />
scraps generated by the Sewing Ger and give<br />
children pride in their contribution to the fence.<br />
The fence will constantly change as pieces are<br />
added and removed. The bright panels will catch<br />
the wind-- acting as a colorful marker for the center<br />
and as a record of the children that pass through its<br />
doors. The design was inspired by local ovoos (rock<br />
shrines) to which Mongolians often tie silk scarves.<br />
60cm<br />
18cm<br />
rebar<br />
fabric scraps<br />
75cm<br />
5cm<br />
10cm<br />
Concept Diagrams<br />
south wall -<br />
Thermal mass provides seating, storage<br />
and visual interest.<br />
solar orientation -<br />
Indoor + outdoor play spaces capture<br />
southern light and warmth.<br />
west wall -<br />
Frames views while blocking wind<br />
and dust.<br />
core -<br />
Services grouped in a central core.<br />
Book Pages: Fence Design (left) + Concept Diagrams (right)<br />
wnw<br />
w<br />
wnw<br />
nw<br />
nw<br />
nnw<br />
nnw<br />
heat wall -<br />
Gabion cavity water-wall<br />
provides radiant heat .<br />
n<br />
s<br />
nne<br />
sse<br />
courtyard -<br />
ne<br />
se<br />
ene<br />
e<br />
ese<br />
Building shields courtyard from<br />
dominant western winds.
I co-founded and led an<br />
academic design-build<br />
program in India for 26<br />
students of Portland State<br />
University and UT Austin.<br />
Built upon my work at the<br />
Druk White Lotus School<br />
the previous year, we<br />
worked closely with the<br />
school’s teachers and Arup<br />
Associates to design and<br />
construct a greenhouse,<br />
tensile outdoor classrooms,<br />
a traditional yak hair<br />
nomadic dwelling, and<br />
willow shade structures for<br />
this small Buddhist primary<br />
school in the Indian<br />
Himalayas.<br />
Druk White Lotus<br />
School:Ladakh<br />
India Design Build
Right:<br />
We modified an existing<br />
structure into a greenhouse<br />
that included<br />
compost bins, shelving for<br />
seedlings, gravity fed drip<br />
irrigation, and a space for<br />
informal classroom lessons.<br />
Far Right:<br />
We employed popular<br />
superheros in a series of<br />
comic book style lessons to<br />
explain the sustainable<br />
features of the greenhouse<br />
and their school.<br />
Druk White Lotus<br />
School:Ladakh<br />
India Design Build
With the help of Ladakhi<br />
nomads, we procured and<br />
erected an authentic rebo,<br />
or traditional yak-hair<br />
nomadic dwelling, teaching<br />
students about a<br />
rapidly vanishing way of<br />
life. The rebo included an<br />
elaborate sunken stone<br />
foundation with shelving,<br />
traditional hearth, altar, and<br />
food storage areas.<br />
A celebration was held<br />
where the rebo was consecrated<br />
and students were<br />
led inside to learn about<br />
this ancient way of life<br />
directly from Ladakhi<br />
nomads.<br />
Druk White Lotus<br />
School:Ladakh<br />
India Design Build
This lamp was inspired by<br />
the desire to create something<br />
new from the used<br />
cutting blades that collect<br />
in architecture studios. It is<br />
made from 150 discarded<br />
blades, arranged so that<br />
the light illuminates the<br />
negative space between<br />
blades.<br />
150<br />
Sharp Lamp Exacto Discarded<br />
Blades
I have a strong background in<br />
psychology and behavioral<br />
science, including research. I<br />
completed my BA in Psychology<br />
from UC Berkeley in 2003<br />
Relevant Coursework in<br />
Behavioral Science:<br />
Physical Anthropology<br />
Archaeology<br />
Brain, Mind & Behavior<br />
Socio/Cultural Anthropology<br />
Cognitive Science<br />
Buddhist Psychology<br />
Clinical Psychology<br />
Exploring the Brain<br />
Cognitive Neuroscience<br />
Cultural Psychology<br />
Social + Cultural Factors in<br />
Design<br />
Statistical Analysis<br />
Behavioral Science Psychology<br />
Cognition + Action Lab | Lab Assistant<br />
In 2000, I was a research assistant in the lab of Dr.<br />
Richard Ivry, Director of the Institute of Cognitive<br />
and Brain Sciences, and Vice-Chair of the Department<br />
of Psychology UC Berkeley.<br />
I conducted experiments on Stimulus-Response<br />
learning and Implicit Learning in humans, while<br />
collecting and organizing data for review. Our aim<br />
was to determine whether learning in serial<br />
reaction time tasks is predominantly stimulusbased<br />
or response-based.<br />
Napa State Mental Hospital | Intern<br />
I held a one-year mental health internship at the<br />
Napa State Hospital in California, the 2nd largest<br />
forensic psychiatric hospital in the country.<br />
Napa State Hospital is classified as a medium<br />
security inpatient hospital, where 75% of the<br />
patients are hospitalized under criminal commitments<br />
(Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity NGRI)<br />
Treatment is based on a recovery model using<br />
biopsychosocial rehabilitation principles. I worked<br />
with patients on various pro-social activities.<br />
Susannah Paletz | Research Assistant<br />
Assisted in research which looked at differences<br />
in the definition, value, and expression of<br />
creativity across cultures.<br />
Humberto Cavallin | Research Assistant<br />
Assisted in research which explored the role<br />
that architectural models (both physical +<br />
digital) have in the framing and solving of<br />
design problems.
Thank You.<br />
tania@designwithbenefits.com<br />
I would absolutely love to work at GRID Impact. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I found the job listing! Tania Garbe