Supporting Education and Inclusion in Architecture.

The Architecture Is Free Foundation is a US based educational non-profit 501c3 charity. We believe that education in general should be free, or at least, affordable and easily accessible to all. Access to education promotes individual development and helps communities grow and thrive. The Architecture Is Free Foundation is a group of architects, educators, students, and professionals committed to supporting, mentoring, educating, and assisting students and young graduates that face hardships.

The Architecture Is Free Foundation recently launched a mentoring and tutoring service to support architecture and design students who may not have access to in-person educational resources. AIFF also hosts a free lecture series as well as several free online design studios run by our volunteer faculty.

AIF believes that a variety of financial, social, and geographic obstacles contribute to educational exclusion.  For this reason, there are no student fees, no applications, and no prerequisites. If you have access to the internet, then you have access to AIF.  Students join AIF by following @architectureisfree on Instagram and connecting with a faculty member through direct message. A typical mentoring or tutoring session is one hour and takes place on Zoom. We believe Instagram is the best way to reach the widest audience because the platform has the least barriers to entry.

At the same time, we are also creating a community of architects from around the world working together, teaching together, and networking together. AIF also provides a valuable platform for aspiring instructors who are well positioned to teach, yet find they are disillusioned with the lack of attractive teaching posts offered by traditional academic institutions. .

We believe that the Covid pandemic has created a new atmosphere where people are more comfortable meeting, working and collaborating remotely. Along with the technology of “disintermediation” and decentralization created by social media, we believe this is the perfect moment to launch such an initiative.

We are also committed to developing unique content to present on our platform. We are especially interested in shining a light on lesser known histories and narratives in an effort to engage students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

The Architecture Is Free Foundation serves a diverse group of students and faculty from all over the world, while funding charities that support inclusion and empowerment.  AIF relies on the goodwill of both the faculty and the students to pay it forward.  Our member faculty volunteer their time and harness their networks to improve student outcomes. Students do their part to support the community by donating what they can afford to charities of their choice.

Daniel Horowitz, Founder of AIF says “if the world we live in is to be a valid expression of our collective cultural moment then it has to be designed by a representative cross-section of people that live in the world, not just the unencumbered elite few.”

We are building an inclusive community and welcome new members. Please support our community by contacting us directly or by contributing feedback and comments on our Instagram page. https://www.instagram.com/architectureisfree/

AIF is currently seeking Research Leaders. “If you are a student and you have an interesting project, please reach out to us. We would like to support your work.”