If you care about the future we're building, you ought to own a copy of Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises

Now, I'm biased. Co-author Cameron Sinclair is not only a WorldChanging contributor, he's also a close friend. Cameron's been a buddy, an ally, and sometimes a teacher.

But if I'd never met Cameron, Design Like You Give a Damn would convince me that I ought to know him. This book should sit on the desk of every designer, architect and engineer who believes that changing the world is part of her job.

Much of the book centers (as one might expect) on housing and shelter, but other fields (sanitation, planning, etc.) are covered as well, with overviews of illustrative design innovations in each field.

Many of the ideas here will be familiar to WC readers. Barefoot solar engineers, land mine detecting flowers, Hexayurt, Roundabout's PlayPump, the Mine Wolf, Watercone, Anti-Malarial Bednets. But there's plenty of material I'd never before encountered here, and, as an overall resource, it's indespensible.

Indeed, I am more and more convinced that 2006 is going to be the year when worldchanging approaches break big. More and more smart, dedicated people (in a number of fields) are turning their passion, skill and experience to bear on solving our biggest problems. Nothing could be more exciting, or more needed, but one of the challenges we all face now is keeping up with the best work being done in each field. That makes resources like this one all the more critical. Design Like You Give a Damn is worldchanging.