Archinect - Features

Where Are All The Affordable Housing Startups?

2024-06-19T13:04:00-04:00

Despite the general consensus that the United States is in need of more affordable housing, funding to startups focused on affordable housing and more efficient construction technologies is lower in 2024 than in recent years. In the meantime, a series of high-profile bankruptcies, closures, and struggles have been reported among startups tackling the issue. How has this happened?

For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized

2021-07-28T14:51:00-04:00

Across the globe, the design and construction of affordable housing is failing to meet demand, leaving both low and middle income dwellers with little choice but to accept high costs, substandard conditions, or a move away from urban centers. This reality not only presents dangerous environmental and social conditions, but also underpins a fundamental failure of our current processes to design and construct quality affordable housing. In the face of this crisis, architects are finding opportunities for change. In this article, we speak with architect David Wallance FAIA, whose new book The Future of Modular Architecture sets out a paradigm-shift vision for the future of affordable housing. Here, we discuss the details of Wallance’s industrial-scale system, derived from the standard dimensions of intermodal shipping units, as well as the major changes such a system would bring to cities, housing markets, the environment, architectural education, and the business structure of the arch...

Exploring Virtual Design Possibilities Through BIM and Modular Construction

2019-12-19T09:00:00-05:00

Demand for individuals with an expertise in Building Information Modeling (BIM) is increasing throughout the job market. A modeling platform that has changed the the building industry, many firms have transitioned to using BIM over the last decade to take advantage of the inherent potential for collaboration and coordination the technology offers, both in the studio and on the job site. (For a nuts-and-bolts view of what it's like to work as a BIM Specialist, see Archinect's recent story unpacking the ins and outs of the job title)

Due to BIM's multi-disciplinary scope, construction firms like Windover Construction use the BIM framework and other visual design technologies to bring efficiency to complex construction projects, like those that utilize modular and prefab building components.

To learn more about the implementations of BIM and virtual design within this realm, Archinect spoke with Windover Construction Director of Virtual Design and Construction Amr Raafat and Senior Pr...

Re-Imagining Housing Design with Marissa Kasdan, Director of KTGY’s R+D Studio

2019-10-17T13:30:00-04:00

With a rapidly aging population, an inward flux of new urban residents, and developmental pressures forcing displacement and homelessness on growing numbers of people, housing design finds itself at a critical nexus in the United States.

And while many architecture firms are surely working on innovative housing projects, few have dedicated teams focused on pursuing housing innovation from an integrated, transformational perspective. KTGY Architecture + Planning is one such firm, however. The R+D Studio at KTGY exists to "explore new and emerging ideas related to building design and technology," with an eye toward integrating new housing developments into their surroundings, re-thinking existing design paradigms, and prototyping cost- and time-saving construction approaches all the while expanding the realm of housing design to include co-living arrangements, contemporary senior housing models, and supportive housing.

We talked with Marissa Kasdan, director of KTGY's R+D Studio, to ...