Archinect - News

Congress approves AIA-recommended upgrades aimed at making the people's house more accessible and democratic

2022-07-25T19:58:00-04:00

The House Select Committee on Congressional Modernization has approved select recommendations first provided to that body by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during a recent hearing on March 17.

A slate of proposals for updating Congressional office space was originally put forth in testimony by Quinn Evans Senior Associate Katie Irwin, AIA, who advised that “we can be good stewards of these historic spaces while sensitively integrating modern updates to facilitate the technology-fueled pace of work.”

Among the total 29 adopted proposals were the following (from Irwin):

Flex hearing space: The House should identify and develop a space that can be used to hold hearings with alternative seating formats such as a roundtable-style.
Flexible and modern member office templates: The CAO should provide a broad menu of furniture options and templates for member office space that considers modern and flexible design and function concepts.
Portal for all reservable space: The House sho...

Clinton-era federal public housing ban one step closer to repeal

2020-07-02T17:29:00-04:00

The United States House of Representatives has passed a substantial infrastructure bill that includes an addendum from New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez repealing the Faircloth Amendment, a 22-year-old regulation that caps the overall number of public housing units that can be built in the United States.

Previously on Archinect: "AOC and Bernie Sanders unveil "Green New Deal for Housing" plan."

The Moving Forward Act brings much needed funding to surface transportation initiatives, including public transit, provides for rural broadband infrastructure, and aims to spur the creation of green collar jobs.

Among these initiatives is Representative Ocasio-Cortez's amendment, which would begin to allow the federal government to expand the nation's public housing stock after a two decade hiatus.

Currently, federal authorities are limited in how many public housing units can be built and cannot add to the supply of public housing in the country above the number of public hous...

Democrats propose $494 billion transportation infrastructure bill

2020-06-08T15:47:00-04:00

According to the United States House of Representatives House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, The Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act would dole out the funding over five years to "address some of the country’s most urgent infrastructure needs."

Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) unveiled the legislation last week.

The bill calls for providing $319 billion for the federal aid highway program administered by the Federal Highway Administration; $105 billion for Federal Transit Administration programs; $83.1 billion for COVID-19 recovery projects; $60 billion for rail projects; $28 billion for "fix-it-first" bridge repairs; $8.4 billion for carbon reduction programs; and $5.3 billion for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, among other programs.

YIMBY Act gets passed in House of Representative

2020-03-06T12:20:00-05:00

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan "Yes In My Backyard" (YIMBY) Act this week, which aims to address the country’s affordable housing crisis by reducing barriers to increase housing production. The bill, which calls for high-density single-family and multifamily zoning, is sponsored by Rep. Denny Heck, D-WA, and Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, R-IN.

The bill, according to Smart Cities Dive, also calls for reducing minimum lot size; allowing manufactured homes in areas zoned for single-family residential dwellings; and allowing for duplexes in areas zoned mostly for single-family residential homes.

U.S. House approves bill that will make it easier for smaller communities to get FEMA relief

2016-03-01T17:14:00-05:00

the federal government’s disaster declaration formula has been broken for years, making it nearly impossible for smaller communities to get help. [...] The FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act requires the feds give greater consideration to the localized impact of a disaster [...] rural parts of the state ... must meet an arbitrarily high threshold in order to qualify for a disaster declaration. Enacting this language into law will level the playing field

Known as HR 1471, the FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2015 (passed by the House on February 29 of 2016) includes input from architects and members of the building industry to review and update FEMA's policies. In a press release issued earlier today, AIA President Russell Davidson FAIA expressed his gratification that legislation included architects: "HR 1471 represents a major opportunity for our profession to have a say in developing proposals which could have an immediate impact on federal resilience policy.”

More on the difficulties of disaster relief funding: