Jeremy Mende, Steven Knodel, Amadeo DeSousa and Diana Martinez

Based in San Francisco, Public Architecture identifies and solves practical problems of human interaction in the built environment. It acts as a catalyst for public discourse through education, advocacy, and the design of public spaces and amenities.

Believing that design is a process of making things that build constructive values directly into the work, the team from MendeDesign of San Francisco saw a coming together of their own values and vision with those of Public Architecture.

The 1% solution attempts to bring design sensitivity to the non-profit sector, a sector typically woefully short of access to thoughtful space planning and design. By pairing non-profit organizations with interested architects, the 1% Solution enables those organizations to develop more healthy, dignified, efficient, user-friendly and meaningful working environments tat function to better serve their clients and overall mission.

MendeDesign created the 1% User's Guide which consists of two booklets; one written to engage principals of architecture firms, the other to engage the executive directors of non-profit organizations in need of design services. Users must complete a series of fill-in-the-blank style questions that remind them of the power of design to elevate quality of life.