Terreform ONE is a 501c3 non-profit architecture and urban think tank that advances ecological design in derelict municipal areas. By formulating unsolicited feasibility studies and egalitarian designs, their mission is to illustrate speculative environmental plans for New York City and other cities worldwide. Their intention is to support community outreach and master plan solutions in underprivileged areas that do not have direct access to qualified architects and urban designers. They are a pro bono studio and lab for adept architects, planners, scientists, and urban studies specialists to investigate and refine the broader framework of ecological city design. The organization strives to inspire unique solutions for global sustainability in the following categories; air quality, smart mobility, renewable power, infrastructure, food access, recycling waste processes, clean water, and equitable economies. The group seeks to encourage public appreciation for the numerous methods in which architecture and urban design improves human life.
History
The organization was co-founded in May 2006 by Mitchell Joachim, Maria Aiolova and others in response to the need for urgent long-standing research on sustainable cities. After entering a series of open design competitions the organization then began taking on a number of urban projects, engaging local neighborhoods with members of the design community to broaden a ground up alternative to overdevelopment.
Activity
To further the humanitarian aim of Terrform ONE's directives, their group has held an annual public design and science award that focuses on green urbanity entitled; ONE Prize. Over the years the jury consists of some of the most notable figures in urban pedagogy and practice; NYC Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Michael Colgrove, Helena Durst, Bjarke Ingels, Kate Ascher, James Corner, Carol Coletta, William J. Mitchell, Margaret Crawford, Cameron Sinclair, and others. ONE Lab and TerreFarm are two educational components of Terreform ONE. These collaborative schools receive forty students each year from around the world to learn about varied topics in; synthetic biology, urban farming, parametric computation, ecological landscapes, rapid prototyping, and urban theory. A public lecture series occurs during the seminars that includes design luminaries such as; Vito Acconci, Dickson Despommier, Natalie Jeremijenko, Christian Hubert. Terreform ONE has been officially selected to participate in the Venice Biennale of Architecture.
Structure
With multiple chapters and constituents in various countries around the globe, they are structured into five divisions under the parent organization Terre ONE as follows; Terreform ONE – Architectural and Urban Research Hub, Terreform ONE Lab - School for Design and Science, Terreform ONE Prize – Annual Juried Competition, Terreform ONE Global – International Fellowship Program, Terreform ONE Event - Host for City Experience Venues.
Recognition
They are the winners of ARCHITECT R+D Awards, and the Victor PapanekSocial Design Award sponsored by the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, and the Museum of Arts and Design. Terreform ONE is equally honored with the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity for the project, New York City Resource & Mobility. Terreform was also a recipient of the Infiniti Design Excellence Award for the History ChannelCity of the Future competition. They have earned a Bronze Medal from iGEM for the Gen2Seat fully organic chair product. In 2013, Terreform ONE were winners of the AIA New York Urban Design Merit Award for their Urbaneer: Resilient Waterfront Infrastructure work. The group also received an Architizer A+ Award for the Bio City World Map of 11 Billion.
