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Portland State University and a French architecture school recently won a grant that will allow them to partner to design and build two orphanages in Haiti.

The first orphanage will house 600 of Haiti’s most disadvantaged children, and provide space for education. Once that orphanage is built, the students at PSU and Ecole Speciale d’Architecture de Paris will design and build another.

But PSU Professor Sergio Palleroni is hopeful that the partnership leads to something much bigger: public interest architecture.

He wants to create a program to teach students how to think about addressing issues such as reconstruction in areas devastated by natural or man-made disasters 鈥� hurricanes, earthquakes, mass migration because of war, and extreme economic hardship.

鈥淗ow do you teach students public interest architecture?鈥� Palleroni said. 鈥淲e should begin to open the profession up to work that’s not the traditional commercial or wealthier clients 鈥� work that affects a broader range of the community.

鈥淚t is my life’s work,鈥� he said.

Palleroni has been building the program for 25 years. He began his career working on U.N. and World Bank-sponsored projects in Nicaragua, Mexico and Northern Africa. In 1987, he co-founded the BaSiC Initiative, a service learning program that provides opportunities for students to use design-build skills to reach underserved communities around the world 鈥� from the Gulf Coast to Mexico, Taiwan, Tunisia and beyond.

Palleroni’s goal is to educate architects about the broad range of ethical and practical issues involved in public interest architecture.

鈥淚 want to teach my architecture students about economies and economics of scale, (and) to talk about how we deal with people who are different than us, and build relationships that are not just patronizing but are productive for both us and them,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re not going to solve it. But if we provide insight and forums and intelligence, and educate young people 鈥� out of there will come people who will solve it.鈥�

The PSU partnership with Ecole Speciale d’Architecture de Paris, funded by a Partner University Fund grant, will be a starting point for developing a curriculum. The orphanages in Haiti will be the example projects, where 140 students from both schools will be able to apply lessons learned.

A lack of financial resources has challenged program development, Palleroni said.

鈥淧eople are much more willing to give you money to build a clinic than to build a program,鈥� he said.

However, Palleroni would like to see the program extended, by forming partnerships with professional communities in Portland and beyond. Abby Dacey, principal at Boora Architects and founding member of Architects Without Borders-Oregon, said the university will be a good place to anchor a humanitarian architecture program.

鈥淪tudents, by nature, tend to be pretty optimistic and aspirational about the possibilities of what they can do,鈥� Dacey said. Full-time professionals, she added, have limited time they can devote to humanitarian efforts. 鈥淭he university can provide a broad base and support network for the topic. It is a real sustaining element.鈥�

Palleroni said the plan is to continue to apply for grants to pay for construction, research into building materials, and educational program operations.

鈥淚t’s huge, but we’re going to do it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have work to do, but I have no doubt we’re going to do it.鈥�