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The winners of the 2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge were announced. Designing for the theme of Digital Inclusion, the competition invited professionals to develop sustainable solutions for building low-cost, multi-purpose facilities for one of three chosen community partners. The selected sites each lack the technology resources that offer access to education, healthcare and the global marketplace.

Seattle-based Global Studio won the Africa Challenge for their proposal of The Slums Information Development & Resource Centre (SIDAREC) Technology Hub in Mukuru Kwa Njenga (above), an informal settlement east of Nairobi, Kenya. SIDAREC will function as a media lab and library and will serve a staff of 7 and 250 youth. This site will be developed with funding from AMD and includes costs for the operations and initial training of the community.

Though all winners will receive a travel grant to meet the clients and develop their designs further, funding is currently being sought for development of the other two sites in Asia and South America, respectively won by Max Fordham, LLP (Gwilym Still, David Hawkins, Bertie Dixon and Thomas Bailess) + Nick Lawrence for their proposal of the Nyaya Health clinic, and Igor Taskov, ChunSheh Teo, Heather Worrell for their work on the Kallari Association project in the Amazon.

Director Cameron Sinclair noted that "collectively all three will improve and empower the lives of close to 800,000 people."

see images of the finalists after the jump

South America Challenge, Kallari Association

Asia Challenge, Nyaya Health clinic