Recently in Interviews Category

January 29, 2014

Whatever Happened to the $300 House?

The Harvard Business Review blog titled Whatever Happened to the $300 House? gives us less than half the story of what's been going on. I'd like to set the record straight for those of you who've asked: "what's going on?"

Here's a chart to explain the journey so far >>

300housejourney.jpg

Part of the confusion stems from the idea of ownership.  You see, the $300 House is not a project with an "owner" per se.  Rather, it's an idea - to get individuals, businesses, and institutions to participate - collaboratively, if possible - to come up with solutions to solving the problem of affordable housing for the poorest of the poor.  

To me what matters is that the journey has actually begun, with individuals, institutions, and businesses working on it at their own pace. Some are choosing to work in an open spirit of collaboration, while others have chosen a more traditional, closed approach. Both are fine. But to say that the only thing that's happening with the $300 House is what's happening at Dartmouth is just missing the boat.  

June 10, 2011

Our Rebuttal to the $300 House Op-Ed in the NY Times

Have they stopped fact-checking at the New York Times

That's the question I asked myself when I saw the op-ed they ran on the $300 House.

VG and I wrote a rebuttal - here - on the Harvard Business Review blog.

Please let us know what you think by posting your comments at HBR, underneath the rebuttal.

May 27, 2011

299 Design Ideas for the $300 House

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm and support!  VG and I are thrilled to see the creative suggestions and the spirit of co-operation that became more and more evident as the $300 House Open Design Challenge went along. 

Special thanks to the Jovoto team - Nathalie, Nadine, Peter (x2), Bastian, and Shaun at Mutopo for making this happen - without your generosity we'd never have gotten off the ground.  Thanks also to Scott Tew from Ingersoll Rand for your willingness to try this experiment.

Now, let the judging begin!

April 9, 2011

Shraya's Interview: The $300 House

shraya.gifThe following questions were sent to VG and Christian by Shraya, a 4th grader in Miss Mancosh's class. Her mentor for this project is Miss Emily Pasquale. Thanks for your questions, Shraya!

How does your organization work?
We are not a formal organization - simply a collection of concerned individuals and companies trying to find a solution to the problem of low-cost housing for the poorest people on our planet.  So our "job" is to help people come together - across organizations, businesses and governments - to solve the problem.

How do you plan to get the money to construct these houses?

We are not planning on asking anyone to fund us as an organization, but rather to fund different projects or phases. For example we are getting ready to have a design challenge where we ask people to submit their plans for a $300 House. We would like to offer the winning team(s) a small financial reward for their hard work and the opportunity to join a prototyping workshop where we will build a $300 House. This may be done through sponsorship. We already have a sponsor: The Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (CEES) at Ingersoll Rand, and we're talking to others as well.

Does your organization operate all around the world?
Yes and no.  We have members from all the different continents who have signed on because they are interested in solving the problem.  But we are not a formal organization, so we don't spend any money operating anywhere.

What are challenges in building houses outside the USA?
Great question. The biggest challenge for poor people anywhere is money - they don't have enough money to buy land or to buy a house. Sometimes they lack the money to even rent a place to live and have to resort to living in anything they can find that gives them some protection from the elements.

Our hope is that we can create affordable houses which are comfortable and durable enough to provide the poor with a safe place to live. Every country has different issues, and we're going to have to understand what they are to be successful.

Are you constructing any houses in India currently?
No, not yet. But India is one of the countries we want to build a few test houses, to see how they work. Other countries we are thinking about to start this project are Haiti and Indonesia.

Are you working with other charities? If so what are they?

We plan on working with charities and businesses. You see, we think businesses can make money and help poor people at the same time. It's simply a matter of designing the house at a price that poor people can afford. We are also working with non-profits like the Solar Electric Light Fund, and shortly, we hope, with Partners In Health.  In India we are talking to a number of non-profits as well. Of course, we welcome everyone!

What type of problems have you encountered so far?
What problems?  If it was easy, the problem would have been solved a long time ago. So we don't really view our difficulties as problems, but rather as a way to learn.  You can't run without falling, and we're learning to fall quite well!

How has the response been so far about this initiative?

Tremendous. We have people like you writing us - and we have almost 800 people from all over the world who want to do something about this issue.  It's great!

What is it like being in this organization?
It's fun to try to do something that most people think can't be done.  And what will be really cool is if we succeed! Wish us luck - and send in your design for the $300 House.

VG and I love that kids are getting into this project along w/ the adults. Here's an example of a submission from another concerned citizen of the planet >>

Continue reading Shraya's Interview: The $300 House.

March 10, 2011

Building a $300 House for the Poor: HBR interviews VG

vgonhbr.jpg

VG explains the rationale behind the $300 House. Watch >>

February 13, 2011

Design for the Other 90%

“The problem is that 90 percent of the world’s designers spend all their time working on solutions to the problems of the richest 10 percent of the world’s customers. A revolution in design is needed to reverse this silly ratio and reach the other 90 percent.”

Paul Polak in Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail

Here are Paul’s 12 steps to practical problem solving for the poor:

  1. Go to where the action is.
  2. Talk to the people who have the problem and listen to what they have to say.
  3. Learn everything you can about the problem’s specific context.
  4. Think big and act big.
  5. Think like a child.
  6. See and do the obvious.
  7. If somebody has already invented it, you don’t need to do so again.
  8. Make sure your approach has positive, measurable impacts that can be brought to scale.
  9. Design to specific cost and price targets.
  10. Follow practical three-year plans.
  11. Continue to learn from your customers.
  12. Stay positive: don’t be distracted by what other people think.


For all the designers out there, these principles should be applied to the design and implementation of the $300 House.  Paul Polak’s approach at D-REV and  IDE is the direction is which Design must go if is to make a difference in the world.

Watch: