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What We Do
Inadequate housing makes it impossible for people, particularly vulnerable and at-risk communities, to achieve health.
ARCHIVE Global (Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments) is an award-winning international organization that uses housing design as a key preventative strategy in improving health outcomes in vulnerable communities around the world. Through simple, innovative, and cost-effective built environment interventions paired with community health awareness campaigns, our research has proven that these strategies improve the health-outcomes of our beneficiaries.
Learn more about Our Story.
Housing and Health
- Household materials can host insects that cause diseases such as Chagas and scrub typhus.
- Food stored in unhygienic environments can host life-threatening bacteria, mold, and lead to rodent-borne illness.
- Inadequate access to water and sanitation are a common source of diarrheal disease, hepatitis, and many neglected tropical diseases.
- Dirt floors carry parasites, bacteria, and viruses that cause diarrhea, hepatitis, typhoid fever, and neglected tropical diseases.
Housing and Health
- Windows, doors, and eaves are entry points for insects, rodents, and animals, exposing families to vector-borne disease, rodent-borne illnesses, and more.
- Lack of ventilation can exacerbate respiratory infections and the spread of infectious diseases.
- Debris around a home provides a breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes and hiding spaces for deadly snakes.
- Overcrowding exacerbates the spread of infectious diseases and increases diseases spread through proximity to livestock and other animals.
Housing and Health
- Asbestos, found in many building materials, is known to cause pleural diseases and various cancers such as Mesothelioma.
- Inadequate community resources such as lack of access to markets, and green spaces increase levels of stress, anxiety, social isolation, and reduces mental health.
- Lead can be found in homes’ pipes, paint, or household objects built in the US before 1978, and can cause anemia, kidney and brain damage, and cognitive impairment in children.
- Radon is a colorless and odorless gas found in the ground that reaches homes through contaminated groundwater and dirt floors. It causes physical disabilities and various cancers.
Housing and Health
- Household materials can host insects that cause diseases such as Chagas and scrub typhus.
- Food stored in unhygienic environments can host life-threatening bacteria, mold, and lead to rodent-borne illness.
- Inadequate access to water and sanitation are a common source of diarrheal disease, hepatitis, and many neglected tropical diseases.
- Dirt floors carry parasites, bacteria, and viruses that cause diarrhea, hepatitis, typhoid fever, and neglected tropical diseases.
Housing and Health
- Windows, doors, and eaves are entry points for insects, rodents, and animals, exposing families to vector-borne disease, rodent-borne illnesses, and more.
- Lack of ventilation can exacerbate respiratory infections and the spread of infectious diseases.
- Debris around a home provides a breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes and hiding spaces for deadly snakes.
- Overcrowding exacerbates the spread of infectious diseases and increases diseases spread through proximity to livestock and other animals.
Housing and Health
- Asbestos, found in many building materials, is known to cause pleural diseases and various cancers such as Mesothelioma.
- Inadequate community resources such as lack of access to markets, and green spaces increase levels of stress, anxiety, social isolation, and reduces mental health.
- Lead can be found in homes’ pipes, paint, or household objects built in the US before 1978, and can cause anemia, kidney and brain damage, and cognitive impairment in children.
- Radon is a colorless and odorless gas found in the ground that reaches homes through contaminated groundwater and dirt floors. It causes physical disabilities and various cancers.
Our Work
Each of our projects focuses on one specific health concern and one specific built intervention to improve the targeted health concern, and encompass research, the design of the built environment, and advocacy. Communities of need exist in both developing and developed countries, and our projects reflect that. Explore all of our Work.
Mud to Mortar
Savar and Dhamrai Upazila, Bangladesh Ekibada: Our Periods Matter
Maina Parish, Mayuge District, Uganda Health and Housing in Haiti
Saint-Marc, Haiti Building Malaria Prevention
Yaoundé, Cameroon Building Sanitation in Idenau
Idenau Municipality, Cameroon Sanitation for Health in Delhi
Aya Nagar, Delhi, India Happy Healthy Households
Brent and Newham, London, UK Breathe Easy Camden
Camden County, New Jersey, United States Active Aging in NYC: Design for Health
New York, NY, USA CHAI Mosquito-Proof Housing in Namibia
Districts of Mashosho, Simanya, Onoonga, Oupale, Onandjamba A, Omatako, Namibia Building out Chagas
Bolivia Healthy Air, Healthy Living
Oromia, Ethiopia
Savar and Dhamrai Upazila, Bangladesh Ekibada: Our Periods Matter
Maina Parish, Mayuge District, Uganda Health and Housing in Haiti
Saint-Marc, Haiti Building Malaria Prevention
Yaoundé, Cameroon Building Sanitation in Idenau
Idenau Municipality, Cameroon Sanitation for Health in Delhi
Aya Nagar, Delhi, India Happy Healthy Households
Brent and Newham, London, UK Breathe Easy Camden
Camden County, New Jersey, United States Active Aging in NYC: Design for Health
New York, NY, USA CHAI Mosquito-Proof Housing in Namibia
Districts of Mashosho, Simanya, Onoonga, Oupale, Onandjamba A, Omatako, Namibia Building out Chagas
Bolivia Healthy Air, Healthy Living
Oromia, Ethiopia
News & Insights
Stay informed with updates, projects, reports, and upcoming events on the ARCHIVE Instagram Feed.
Behind ARCHIVE’s mission is a team made up of dedicated staff members who are committed to building healthier communities around the globe, and truly believe in the positive impact of the built environment on health.
We want to express our gratitude for their dedication and hard work and will be featuring individual profiles in the coming weeks to introduce you to everyone in our amazing team.
Our team members come from various backgrounds such as public health, architecture, urban design, and planning, and our collective dedication once again proves that collaboration between various disciplines is the key to success and building healthier, more resilient communities.
Today's gratitude post is about our dear colleague, @miranda.jakubek
#ARCHIVECares #15yearsofbuidinghealthdifferently #healththroughhousing
#FlashbackFriday Two years ago ARCHIVE attended the first UN-Habitat General Assembly in Nairobi.
We launched an exhibit on Incremental Housing in collaboration with the UN-Habitat Slum Upgrading Unit in Nairobi and the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme. Through this model, we demonstrated that making simple changes to the home can significantly improve health outcomes.
Our ED, @saritarb also participated in a conversation on “Innovative Approaches to Planning and Health for All” as a panelist where she shared a community-based financial model in Bangladesh that would allow families to pay for the incremental improvement of their housing.
Visit www.healththroughhousing.org/ to access resources, and discover relevant events.
#Malariaproofinghomes #MudtoMortar #indoorairquality #adquatehousing
#housing4all #15yearsofbuildinghealthdifferently
Persistent poor housing has a direct correlation with negative consequences of mental health. Considering that we spend almost 90 percent of time indoors according to the research by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), it is not surprising that housing conditions can impact us in significant ways.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people all around the globe were quarantined indoors, which drastically increased the amount of time we spend indoors, and although it has been difficult for many, some features of our homes have brought us particular joy. Swipe right to see what our followers had to say.
For more resources on the impact that built environment and housing can have on mental health visit healththroughhousing website.
#buildinghealthdifferently
#healththroughhousing
#mentalhealth
#adequatehousing
#housing4all
On the Blog
Find out the latest in health and the built environment on our Blog Feed.