Connect to over 200 cities around the world via a live 24-hour wave of Pecha Kucha presentations and get a global perspective of how creativity can be used as a force to rebuild and recover from tragedy.

By participating in the Pecha Kucha Global Night for Haiti on 20 February at 20:20, creative people in Johannesburg will help raise US$ 1-million to be used by Architecture for Humanity to rebuild homes; schools; public buildings; and other built environments in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

20 February 2010
Doors open at 19:15
First presentation at 20:00
Studio 3, Top Gate, entrance on Frost Avenue Atlas Studios, Milpark
Entrance Fee: R100 donation for the people of Haiti
All proceeds go to Architecture for Humanity

To view the viral video and spread the word, click here. Alternatively, email pecha-kucha_jozi@studio4332.com.

Pecha Kucha Night was started in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, western architects who have been based in Japan for the past 20 years and are known for their ‘adaptable’ designs such as electronic graphic designs on building exteriors that can be updated by the owners at any time.

Recognising the need for a forum for young designers to meet; network; and show their work, they started what are now known as Pecha Kucha Nights - in which 20 designs are presented, each in only 20 seconds. Each presentation therefore lasts exactly six-minutes and 40 seconds.

Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for ‘chit-chat’) spread around the world virally and is now held in a patented format in 200 cities around the world. The organisers for each Pecha Kucha city set the dates for the Nights at their own discretion.

Keeping the presentation format that tight means that the entire evening is filled with high energy innovation and gives more people a chance to present their work than is normally possible in a standard lecture-based presentation format. Entrance for the audience is free.

The Global Pecha Kucha Night on 20 February, however, will mark the first time in Pecha Kucha history that all cities have held their Nights on the same date. “It will also be the first time all the cities will be linked in order of time zone and in terms of theme in order to create a continuous, single-purpose Pecha Kucha night wrapping itself around the world,” says Brendan Wade, Managing Director of progressive, award-winning creative studio, Studio 4332. Studio 4332 initiated Pecha Kucha Nights in Johannesburg’s in May 2009 and still hosts the quarterly event.

“With 200 cities participating, we’re expecting 2 000 creative presentations to be made and some 200 000 creative people to be involved in a 24-hour live relay, with each city live for about seven minutes – enough to give one presentation,” Wade says. “That’s an enormous amount of innovation focused very tightly on a singe outcome – and an extraordinary opportunity for Johannesburg creative talent to not only be directly involved but show how creativity is not a luxury but absolutely essential to solving the most basic survival issues confronting humanity.

“We’re also delighted to be involved in Architecture for Humanity, whose belief that design is the ultimate renewable resource, dovetails with the Pecha Kucha concept and Studio 4332’s own approach to creativity.”

Architecture for Humanity is a non-profit design services firm founded in 1999 and focused on building a more sustainable future through the power of professional design.

Believing that thoughtful, inclusive design creates lasting change in communities, some 40 000 professionals give their time and expertise to help those who would not otherwise be able to afford their services. In the process, they alleviate poverty and provide access to water; sanitation; power; and other essential services. They also bring safe shelter to displaced communities and those prone to disaster; rebuild communities; and create neutral spaces for dialogue in post-conflict areas; mitigate the effects of rapid urbanisation in unplanned settlements; create spaces to meet the needs of those with disabilities and other at-risk populations; reduce the footprint of the built environment; and address climate change.

For more information about Johannesburg’s participation in Pecha Kucha Global Night for Haiti, visit www.studio4332.com or www.pechakucha.org.