Archinect - News

On the disappearance of American starter homes

2022-09-26T15:38:00-04:00

The disappearance of such affordable homes is central to the American housing crisis. The nation has a deepening shortage of housing. But, more specifically, there isn’t enough of this housing: small, no-frills homes that would give a family new to the country or a young couple with student debt a foothold to build equity. [...] At the root is the math problem of putting — or keeping — a low-cost home on increasingly pricey land.

America has a long history of gradually siphoning away architecture made for predominantly middle-class people (think pre-war buildings in Manhattan or Levittown tract housing on Long Island) and is now simply under-delivering what could otherwise be an equalizing force as a result of prevailing factors like intimidating zoning regulations, prohibitive materials costs, and nationwide lack of available new land.

Related on Archinect: Why is America obsessed with huge homes?

Changes in demand also meant the 2010s were curtains for the possibility of building a home at less than $100,000. Today’s market has gravitated towards so-called "missing middle" construction as historical notions of family composition themselves come into question. This means the future of housing might look closer to Adam Neumann's Flow vision or BIG's Nabr initiative than it does to the archetypal American suburb of the 1950s.

As the Times reports, its cause can also be attributed to the overburdening of bui...

With death and chaos reigning, Americans turn toward home improvement

2020-08-18T13:03:00-04:00

As many Americans have taken to working, learning, and sheltering at home in the months since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, existing residential spaces have had to play double and triple duty, functionally speaking.

Amid these shifts in use, Americans have begun to undertake home improvement projects en mass, updating and reconfiguring existing spaces, adding onto their homes, and even moving to entirely new locales to better adapt to the fundamental changes in daily life prompted by nearly six months of quarantine. Nearly a half-year into the pandemic, as much of the world cautiously returns to some form of normal daily life, Americans, with no end in sight to the pandemic and the number of known deaths now exceeding 170,000 lives, have taken to renovating their homes.

Previously on Archinect: Divergence between housing and commercial markets continues as pandemic impact on construction and design deepens.

This week, retail giant Home Depot announced record breaking profits f...

Homebuilding takes a massive hit from COVID-19

2020-04-16T16:42:00-04:00

A new economic report from the United States Commerce Department indicates that housing construction has been massively impacted by the COVID-19-related economic crisis that is currently gripping the country.

According to the department, the number of construction groundbreakings that took place in March stood at 1.2 million, down from February’s 1.56 million starts. That drop, a 23% reduction, comes after a strong winter quarter for home construction that saw housing numbers rise to relative highs.

According to the latest report, condominium and apartment starts, which were also surging in late-2019, cratered by 32.1%. The grim figures, CNBC reports, represent the worst drop in housing construction activity since March of 1984 when they fell by more than 26%.

Previously on Archinect: “AIA Survey: Residential architecture firms have been hit hard by the COVID-19 economic crisis.” Most residential firms expect to be hit hard by the pandemic’s economic impacts. Graphic courtesy of ...

AIA Survey: Residential architecture firms have been hit hard by the COVID-19 economic crisis

2020-04-13T16:20:00-04:00

A new report published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) indicates that architects who focus on residential projects are bracing for steep losses over the coming months as the COVID-19 economic shut down put in place to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus has dimmed what was projected to be a year of healthy growth.

The report’s findings state, “With years of overbuilding, the large millennial generation reaching their prime home-building years, and mortgage rates near historical lows, the outlook was bright for the housing sector entering 2020. Most forecasters were expecting housing production to average 1.5 to 1.6 million units per year over the coming years.” All of that, however, has come to a screeching halt as a hodgepodge of work shut downs and other initiatives have slowed new construction across the country.

“Just as the residential sector was getting back on a solid foundation, it has been hit with this setback,” writes AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Bake...

Single-family homebuilding surges to highest levels since before the Great Recession

2020-01-21T18:51:00-05:00

U.S. homebuilding surged to a 13-year high in December as activity increased across the board, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on track amid low mortgage rates, and could help support the longest economic expansion on record. Housing starts jumped 16.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.608 million units last month, the highest level since December 2006.

A report from CNBC highlights the rising fortunes of the American housing market, which saw homebuilding activities increase to record levels in December 2019. According to the report, the number of housing units started in 2019—1.290 million homes in total, including 916,000 single-family units—was up 3.2% over the year prior. The surge has helped to bring the seasonally adjusted annual homebuilding rate up to 1.608 million units, a 16.9% jump from the previous month and the highest level of homebuilding the country has seen since 2006. The number of permits issued dropped 3.9% in December, however, down from a 12-year high the month before.

Housing starts for multi-family housing rose 29.8% last month to 553,000 units while the number of permits issues for these types of units declined 9.6% to 500,000, overall.

Why is America obsessed with huge homes?

2019-09-17T16:00:00-04:00

It's no secret that America has an unhealthy obsession with size, whether it be food portions or cars, and houses are no different.

The long-running trend runs deeper than the McMansion typology many Americans are familiar, according to Professor Sonia A. Hirt. In a recent study, Hirt uncovered data regarding average housing sizes that helps breakdown American homes and its obsession with size. A professor of landscape architecture and planning at the University of Georgia, Hirt explains America's "average" housing size isn't merely tied to the larger than average lot size prevalent in the United States.

In her research, Hirt gathered data from other countries like Australia, Demark, Canada, and New Zealand to compare with home sizes in America. She shares with Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic, "Even in the absence of a uniform, universal system of measurement, America is in the top tier, globally, when it comes to the size of its citizens' living spaces. The country attained this statu...

Inside the first modernist house in New Orleans listed on the National Register of Historic Places

2019-08-18T07:00:00-04:00

The home consists of three pavilions connected by a central passageway. The public areas are in two pavilions: one side is the living room, and the other, the dining room and kitchen, all adjacent to patios accessed through glass doors, which can be opened when entertaining. With clerestory windows, these rooms are bathed with light, creating a treehouse feel.

Nola.com's Sue Strachan takes a look at the Frances and Nathaniel C. Curtis house in New Orleans. Originally built in 1963, the home became the first Modernist-era home in New Orleans to earn a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Designed by maverick Modernist architects Curtis and Davis, the team behind the city's iconic Superdome, the thoughtfully-designed home has been restored by New Orleans architect Lee Ledbetter.

Inside the high-strung world of McMansion-moving

2019-07-25T13:35:00-04:00

More than 8,000 structures are moved each year, due to development, environmental hazards and historic preservation, according to Tammie DeVooght Blaney, executive director of the International Association of Structural Movers. Industry leaders estimate that high-end, single-family homes at 4,000 square feet or greater account for about only a dozen of these moves annually.

Oceans are rising, hillsides are collapsing, and low-lying neighborhoods are flooding, so what are rich people doing? Relocating, of course.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the logistically complex world of McMansion-moving, profiling a series of contractors and building movers who reposition giant homes for a living.

The reasons why homeowners decide to move their homes varies, but one thing is for sure: It's not cheap. “The more logistical issues involved in the move, the greater the costs, the more you need to prove the value of the house,” John Clegg, president of the Texas Association of Structural Movers, told The Wall Street Journal, adding, “Ninety-five percent of people who reach out to us don’t do the move. It’s just too expensive.”

Virginia Savage McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses is now available in an e-book version

2019-02-11T19:50:00-05:00

In 1984, when Virginia Savage McAlester published the seminal A Field Guide to American Houses, the text she wrote to fill a void became an instant classic adopted by realtors, builders, architects and schools, as well as Americans who wanted to know about their own homes’ architectural style and history [...] But now, McAlester’s field guide is truly user-friendly for the 21st century, available in an e-book version.

Architectural discourse can be quite heavy and dense to those outside of the profession. Especially when it comes to detailed technicalities of design and construction, some claim understanding architecture may not be pedestrian enough. In the hopes of helping other's identify and understand buildings around them, Virginia Savage McAlester published a field guide to aid the public.

In 1984, McAlester's digestible guide to domestic American architecture, A Field Guide to American Homes, hit the market and was quickly adopted and praised by many. The classic coffee table book—now a handy e-book—brings to light the need for architecture to have detailed resource guides the general public can reference. Filled with images and texts cataloging homes built from 1940 - 2010, the guide spurred much interest in the subject of American residential styles.

Architectural style explained - Gothic Revival, Courtesy of Knopf Publishing

For many, living in the built world may be enough when it come...