When Brad Deal, AIA, professor of architecture at Louisiana Tech University, embarked on his first-ever filmmaking venture by registering as a participant in the 2016 I Look Up Film Challenge, he already had a story in mind.
“When I saw the prompt of the Film Challenge was ‘Architecture as a Solution,’ it seemed like the perfect fit and almost a serendipitous calling to share our work at Medcamps,” Deal says.
Deal’s short film, Arch 335: Rebuilding Medcamps, illustrated the partnership between Louisiana Tech University’s Design Build Studios and Medcamps of Louisiana, a nonprofit organization that provides free summer camp experiences to children with chronic illnesses and disabilities. In the film, architecture students design and build a multipurpose space for gatherings, canoe boat ramps, and even archery stands—all within the context that their user group includes children with disabilities. But most of all the film showed how this experience changed the architecture students’ lives as much as it changed the campers’ lives.
The film not only took Grand Prize in the challenge, but also won the People’s Choice Award with a whopping 46,339 votes. But that was only the beginning. What followed in the months after the Film Challenge was beyond what anyone expected.
“In a single screening at a fundraiser last summer, our film helped Medcamps raise over $52,000 towards our 2017 project,” Deal said in a letter addressed to AIA leaders. “That’s nearly three times our typical project budget pledged in just 10 minutes!”
Later, the film raised $18,000 for new tools—donated by architecture alumni and supporters from across the country—as well as about $12,000 worth of donations from local vendors and Stanley Black & Decker, parent company of DeWalt tools. This one story inspired action from university alumni, supporters, and others who simply wanted to help.
The 2017 I Look Up Film Challenge’s Grand Prize winner is Myles Kramer, director of the short film Community by Design: Skid Row Housing Trust. It illustrates how Los Angeles’ Skid Row Housing Trust has placed emphasis on design techniques that provide natural lighting, open courtyards, and semi-public spaces that foster a sense of community for homeless communities. In partnership with Michael Maltzan Architecture and Brooks + Scarpa, the Trust now offers effective solutions to fighting homelessness.
“Los Angeles is in a homeless crisis, and it really shows,” Kramer says. “Once I learned about the Skid Row Housing Trust, their missions, and their impactful body of work, the idea clicked.”
The Trust plugged Kramer in to the communities that span between the buildings, which made the filmmaking process easier and more intimate.
“I’m thrilled that Myles was recognized for his extraordinary work, and pleased that the video highlights the conversation of how architecture and thoughtful design contribute to innovative solutions that address homelessness,” says Mike Alvidrez, CEO of the Skid Row Housing Trust. “The creation of a safe, calm, and beautiful space that evokes a sense of community truly allows people the opportunity to heal and lead more positive and healthy lives.”
There’s no doubt that Community by Design will raise awareness of the homeless community in Los Angeles; the question is, to what extent? Whether that impact comes in the form of a large donation or even a kind gesture on the street, the people who watch this film will better understand the human side of homelessness and respond accordingly. Like all great stories, the ones told through the I Look Up Film Challenge have the potential to inspire tremendous change.