Humanitarian architecture is a field which is very open to different interpretations and for free uncontrolled experimentation. For architects willing to contribute to this field there is no defined framework that can support them in designing a suitable project. The core of this research is based on a case study in which three different cases in humanitarian architecture are investigated and analysed to create a framework with design principles for humanitarian architecture. These design principles can be used as a tool to evaluate projects or as a supportive framework by architects designing buildings with humanitarian purposes. The design principles are explicated as People, Planet, Profit, Place and Process. At the end of the research, Participation is added to this framework as the sixth principle to emphasise the importance of social design in humanitarian architecture. Those six principles are supposed to produce humanitarian architecture projects which can contribute to the creation of autonomy for communities in need. Project MIMPI includes a multidimensional design of a homelike orphanage in Jakarta in which the created framework is used and validated.