Benefit concert at Mississippi Studios

Portland State’s Department of Architecture and Basic Initiative, a service learning program, are hosting a benefit show at Mississippi Studios (3939 N Mississippi Ave.) tomorrow, May 23, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 advance and $8 the day of. The price includes one raffle ticket.

All funds raised from the show will go to a children’s daycare center that the two organizations are designing and building in the squatter community Los Piletones in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This summer, 34 students from Portland State, the University of Texas at Austin and Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be working in Los Piletones to design and partially build a children’s daycare center. This project will allow mothers in the community to pursue work, education and manage their daily lives more effectively.

Basic Initiative pairs design and architecture students with projects in the developing world. The purpose is to root the students’ education in direct engagement with communities underserved by the architecture profession. It was founded by PSU Professor Sergio Palleroni, whose research and fieldwork for the last two decades has been in the methods of integrating sustainable practices to improve the lives of traditionally underserved communities worldwide.

Today, the Basic Initiative is one of the most recognized outreach programs worldwide, with development projects in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Since Basic Initiative is based at PSU, most of the students participating in this program are from the university. This year’s crew includes mostly third- and fourth-year undergrads as well as first-year graduate students.