“Smart and Mini Architecture for Local communities and Low income,” or SMALL Architecture, was founded by architect, Li Ye, and is the Beijing chapter of Architecture for Humanity. Barely a year old, SMALL have undertaken a number of socially-led projects to offer design as a service to the often forgotten local Chinese communities. We met with Li Ye this month to discover more about the organization and working as an NGO in China.

Notes on Design: Can you tell us about SMALL Architecture. When was it founded and why?

Li Ye: SMALL was formally founded in July 2009. We provide an architectural service to those who require non-commercial work, and our clients are usually local communities who do not have much money (i.e. low income). In this context, we consider design as a social service.

The concept for SMALL was actually formulated in the summer of 2008 when I was ready to graduate from Tsinghua University’s School of Architecture. Most of my classmates chose paths like real estate or architectural firms for quick money or fame, but I felt I wanted to do something different. I took a break between university and “starting a career”, and tried to do something non-profit; I wanted to see what I would learn this way.

Fortunately, I found my partner, Xiao Zhen, who works in real estate. Also in our team are Hao Xue (law background), Rong Xiao and Huang Zheng (architecture) and Zara Arshad (design). We are currently focusing on small projects to fulfill SMALL’s vision.

Tulou Housing project, Fujian province.

Notes on Design: What is your relationship to Architecture for Humanity (AfH)?

Li Ye: SMALL was registered as AfH’s financially independent Beijing chapter. Chinese regulation, however, enforces very strict control over border cash flow. If you operate as a branch of a foreign firm or NGO, you cannot accept local donations or investment. This severely limits our work, so we decided to run the financial aspect of our organization independently. Our aim, however, definitely remains the same as AfH – bringing design services to communities in need. Read the rest of this entry »