General Architecture Collaborative

Our goal is to bring the value of design to communities with little access to it, creating innovative, sustainable and community-centered projects.

We work on each project by building a team of individuals and organizations committed to creating innovative practices, techniques, and design solutions for the communities we work with. This includes: working with local artists, crafts people and manufactures so that each project is environmentally and culturally rooted; researching emerging and sustainable building techniques and materials to create projects that are responsible and have longevity; and provide education in design and construction processes, so that each community has a greater say in how their built environment is made, now and in the future.

Founded in 2008, GA Collaborative is a group of design practitioners and educators with experience in architecture, landscape architecture, industrial design and the visual arts. We have been involved with projects in Albania, Bangladesh, Burundi, Haiti, Japan, Nepal, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States. Our projects have a broad range in scale, program and complexity.

We have completed a number of projects in Rwanda to date. These include the Masoro House and Jabana Houses. Both projects are community built residences which: uses local and sustainable building materials; passive heating and cooling methods; innovative construction processes; and local techniques of making. We have also completed a community meeting House, and most recently the Masoro Health Center. The Health Center brings access to health care and well being to rural Masoro, Rwanda. This project is a campus of interior and exterior spaces which provide examination rooms, testing facilities, spaces for teaching healthy food preparation, gardening, and hygiene, as well as offices for nurses and doctors. We continue to develop projects in Rwanda and in the USA focused on our core mission: design for all.