i recently finished my undergrad in architecture, and am working at a large, corporate firm while preparing to apply to graduate programs. the mixed-use and residential projects we work on are practically all located in financial/cultural districts of large cities and are geared towards the wealthy.
i've lately developed a strong interest in directing my energies towards a professional career centered around improving the quality of life for people in lower-income, impoverished areas (either in the US or abroad).
i'm curious what practitioners and firms have already made a name for themselves in these areas, or have designed especially successful projects (from both a design standpoint and a practical standpoint) if anyone has names of architects or projects that would be great!
second teddy cruz, although many of the projects have yet to be built.
also:
michael maltzan in los angeles has done a series of gutsy buildings for very low income folks,
elemental/alejandro aravena in chile (concrete block boxes, but so dreamy),
MVRDV (although typically mixed including low income),
edouard francois in france (should be high-profile if not quite).
many other very high-profile practitioners have done very successful low-income / social housing, even if they're not necessarily famous for such work:
kazuyo sejima, gifu kitagata apartment building,
foreign office architects, thom mayne, in carabanchel, spain.
glen murcutt? low income housing? where and when? almost everything he's done has been for wealthier clients...
lots of this work is being done in the south, centrally located on the rural studio or affiliations with it. marlon blackwell has done a house in n.o.; building studio (coleman coker, ex partner with sambo mockbee), has done some brilliant work in that category; the gulf coast community design center is doing affordable work all along the coast (they're sponsored by miss. st.)
at the rural studio itself, they have a series of 20k houses (a couple of which were in the moma exhibition). look, over the next few years, for them to expand this research out into creating whole sustainable ecologies for small towns.
finally, the u.ark. community design center has done work in that arena.
of the others mentioned, david baker is the most overt about focusing his practice around affordable housing. the others have done interesting projects, but i haven't heard them talk about it being a focus per se.
my one thought would be that some or all of the designers listed either do high end work as well or are affiliated with a university program or are a non-profit.
not sure that it is so easy to build a professional career around exclusively low-income housing and building for others.
I suppose it would all depend on what kind fo money/professional career you want to have.
It might be better or offer you more flexibility to think about keeping your job and doing pro-bono work or stuff via local Architecture for Humanity branches etc.
I know louis kahn did low-income-housing - and I think a lot of the modernists were interested in low-income housing (yamasaki designed the infamous pruitt igoe).
not sure that it is so easy to build a professional career around exclusively low-income housing and building for others
Secondedededed. You should really look towards planning and engineering firms... some of which work exclusively in "poor management."
Another firm, albeit does probably absolutely no work that meets your criteria specifically, is West 8 Urban Design. Many of their master plans are developed and modeled after historic city periphery (typically the areas where poverty was located in Europe).
these guys don't fit "high profile," but have been very active in hud financed projects in detroit for years. the website is bad and the design not much better, but i think they easily refute the claim that you can't base a practice on low-income housing.
Lately there have been a few very interesting social housing projects in Spain by a few "high profile" firms (eg, chipperfield, MVRDV, FOA), and others less high profile, but the projects are rather interesting.
not all exhaustive, but here are a few links to get you started:
I worked for Van Meter Williams Pollack in San Francisco (until the layoffs). They specialized in designing for non-profits that produced affordable housing.
California has a lot of not-for-profit developers; Burbank Housing, Eden Housing & Resources for Community Development to name a few. The designs aren't avant garde, they still must be accepted by the communities they are located in. You can do GOOD DESIGN while learning how to use materials in a cost-effective manner & know that you are doing ethical work.
Michael Pyatok is an interesting guy. I saw him speak at a conference recently and he had an interesting perspective on how to get these kinds of projects done. I imagine he would be a great studio teacher.
Here in California, budgets for affordable (that is, subsidized) housing are often higher than for market rate housing. Interior finishes are chosen for durability rather than style, but the public spaces tend to be more generous and since owners are usually required to operate the housing for 50+ years they have a long term perspective.
The down side is that developers have to cobble together many different types of funding, and each source often comes with its own design requirements, so there is a tendency to go with a bland aesthetic.
One also has to think about the residents - no one wants to live in an architect's failed experiment, least of all someone who has no other (economic) choice, and this tends to rein in innovation. Baker, K+E, Payatok and some of the others noted above have managed to do good work anyway.
That said, most of the funding is gone/on hold now, so don't quit your day job.
Dec 16, 10 1:39 am ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
high-profile practitioners designing low-income housing/communities?
i recently finished my undergrad in architecture, and am working at a large, corporate firm while preparing to apply to graduate programs. the mixed-use and residential projects we work on are practically all located in financial/cultural districts of large cities and are geared towards the wealthy.
i've lately developed a strong interest in directing my energies towards a professional career centered around improving the quality of life for people in lower-income, impoverished areas (either in the US or abroad).
i'm curious what practitioners and firms have already made a name for themselves in these areas, or have designed especially successful projects (from both a design standpoint and a practical standpoint) if anyone has names of architects or projects that would be great!
thanks
shigeru ban
glen murcutt
and Koning Eizenberg have each done a number of award-winning affordable housing projects
Teddy Cruz of course, of course, of course
second teddy cruz, although many of the projects have yet to be built.
also:
michael maltzan in los angeles has done a series of gutsy buildings for very low income folks,
elemental/alejandro aravena in chile (concrete block boxes, but so dreamy),
MVRDV (although typically mixed including low income),
edouard francois in france (should be high-profile if not quite).
many other very high-profile practitioners have done very successful low-income / social housing, even if they're not necessarily famous for such work:
kazuyo sejima, gifu kitagata apartment building,
foreign office architects, thom mayne, in carabanchel, spain.
glen murcutt? low income housing? where and when? almost everything he's done has been for wealthier clients...
lots of this work is being done in the south, centrally located on the rural studio or affiliations with it. marlon blackwell has done a house in n.o.; building studio (coleman coker, ex partner with sambo mockbee), has done some brilliant work in that category; the gulf coast community design center is doing affordable work all along the coast (they're sponsored by miss. st.)
at the rural studio itself, they have a series of 20k houses (a couple of which were in the moma exhibition). look, over the next few years, for them to expand this research out into creating whole sustainable ecologies for small towns.
finally, the u.ark. community design center has done work in that arena.
of the others mentioned, david baker is the most overt about focusing his practice around affordable housing. the others have done interesting projects, but i haven't heard them talk about it being a focus per se.
my one thought would be that some or all of the designers listed either do high end work as well or are affiliated with a university program or are a non-profit.
not sure that it is so easy to build a professional career around exclusively low-income housing and building for others.
I suppose it would all depend on what kind fo money/professional career you want to have.
It might be better or offer you more flexibility to think about keeping your job and doing pro-bono work or stuff via local Architecture for Humanity branches etc.
outed - I was thinking the marika-alderton house, but I realize now that it was for an artist, not a non-profit...
I know louis kahn did low-income-housing - and I think a lot of the modernists were interested in low-income housing (yamasaki designed the infamous pruitt igoe).
Murcutt did the Marika-Alderton House gratis in exchange that they would build it the way he drew it.
Foster talks about a project in his office where they are designing low income housing in Africa. Has anyone seen any of it?
Secondedededed. You should really look towards planning and engineering firms... some of which work exclusively in "poor management."
Another firm, albeit does probably absolutely no work that meets your criteria specifically, is West 8 Urban Design. Many of their master plans are developed and modeled after historic city periphery (typically the areas where poverty was located in Europe).
It's definitely possible. There are at least two firms in Chicago that do this. Landon Bone Baker and Weese Langley Weese.
Also I believe that Teddy Cruz started practicing first and teaching later...? Any corroboration?
I know there is at least one firm in Boston that does only this kind of work: the narrow gate. they've been around for a while...
these guys don't fit "high profile," but have been very active in hud financed projects in detroit for years. the website is bad and the design not much better, but i think they easily refute the claim that you can't base a practice on low-income housing.
http://www.kadushin.org/index.htm
Lately there have been a few very interesting social housing projects in Spain by a few "high profile" firms (eg, chipperfield, MVRDV, FOA), and others less high profile, but the projects are rather interesting.
not all exhaustive, but here are a few links to get you started:
http://www.mimoa.eu/browse/projects/social%20housing/
http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Spain/Madrid
/Carabanchel%20Social%20Housing
http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Spain/Madrid
/Villaverde%20Social%20Housing
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/01/20/suvivienda/1264016759.html
http://www.elparalex.com/12-viviendas-vpo-de-arturo-frediani-vilassar-de-dalt-barcelona/
http://www.dezeen.com/2010/03/19/132-social-housing-block-by-estudio-entresitio/
http://www.financierodigital.es/cultura/VPO_5_778772116.html
one more (morphosis):
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/morphosis/msh/msh.html
I worked for Van Meter Williams Pollack in San Francisco (until the layoffs). They specialized in designing for non-profits that produced affordable housing.
California has a lot of not-for-profit developers; Burbank Housing, Eden Housing & Resources for Community Development to name a few. The designs aren't avant garde, they still must be accepted by the communities they are located in. You can do GOOD DESIGN while learning how to use materials in a cost-effective manner & know that you are doing ethical work.
Helmut Jahn made an interesting one a few years ago in Chicago; Tigerman made one south of the UofC campus in the early days of his career.
Also, check out the Rose Fellowship, which trains several architects each year to do exactly this work.
Do dormitories count as low-income housing?
A visiting professor mentioned Michael Pyatok, but I haven't gotten around to researching his work yet.
Work for construction/engineering companies that churn out work with no conceptual design thinking.
Clients looking to keep costs down are unlikely to look for architects to do cheap housing. They will think architects are extra costs.
Michael Pyatok is an interesting guy. I saw him speak at a conference recently and he had an interesting perspective on how to get these kinds of projects done. I imagine he would be a great studio teacher.
Here in California, budgets for affordable (that is, subsidized) housing are often higher than for market rate housing. Interior finishes are chosen for durability rather than style, but the public spaces tend to be more generous and since owners are usually required to operate the housing for 50+ years they have a long term perspective.
The down side is that developers have to cobble together many different types of funding, and each source often comes with its own design requirements, so there is a tendency to go with a bland aesthetic.
One also has to think about the residents - no one wants to live in an architect's failed experiment, least of all someone who has no other (economic) choice, and this tends to rein in innovation. Baker, K+E, Payatok and some of the others noted above have managed to do good work anyway.
That said, most of the funding is gone/on hold now, so don't quit your day job.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.