2025 ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference:
NEW HOUSING PARADIGMS

The issues of unattainable housing nationally are felt especially strongly in Austin, where policy and institution failures create multiple “missing middles.” We are not just missing certain typologies but middles between subsidies and excessive wealth, forms of ownership and agency, and more. This session will explore the efforts of AIA Austin’s Housing Advocacy Committee to push beyond merely increasing supply to enable more options and agency within a more diverse housing landscape that is more inclusive of moderately scaled, moderately priced typologies. We will share insights from recent local initiatives and place them in the context of national reform efforts.

Presenters: 

Chris Gannon, Shams Gannon Architecture

Jason John Paul Haskins, Hatch + Ulland Owen Architects

Lucy Begg, Thoughtbarn

Moderator: Name, Affiliation

Teaching Ethics and Empathy: Housing Design for the Unhoused
Alexis Gregory, Mississippi State University

Non-Human Housing: Radical Empathy as Design Pedagogy
Benjamin Akhavan, Morgan State University

A Taxonomy of Housing Design Studio Responses
Ting Chin & Claudia Hernandez-Feiks, New York City College of Technology

Process, Product, and Place: The Housing Design Studio as Collaborative Practice
Michael Harpster, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Housing is widely recognized as a social determinant of health. Housing quality and location can mean the difference between residents experiencing environmental and social harms or access to health-promoting amenities. Housing is also a major contributor to climate change. It is a major driver of electricity use and car travel – which, combined, are responsible for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This panel will present four housing projects from the inaugural American Institute of Architects Climate Justice case study cohort that exemplify the power of centering both climate action and climate justice in a single design.

Presenters: 

Adele Houghton, Biositu, LLC & Harvard U.

Michele Russo, AIA

Moderator: Name, Affiliation

At the Urban Fringe: Housing Innovation in Loosely Regulated Peripheries
Jaehun Woo, California Polytechnic State University

Common Ground: Reimagining Residential Block for Collective Living
Leyuan Li, University of Colorado Denver

Simulating Effects of Florida’s SB102 Live Local Act
Stephen Bender, University of Florida

Investigative Design Methodologies for Affordable Housing: Urban Complexity in the UAE’s Industrial Zones
Jason Carlow, American University of Sharjah

At the forefront of the practice of housing are creative methods for centering people in the design process. These methods share in common a casting of the architect as an advocate, forging connections with partners, residents, community groups, city agencies and political actors to influence the design of housing at multiple scales, from city policies to spatial organizations to material assemblies. Implemented successfully, they result in housing projects that have a powerful imprint on both residents and the larger communities in which they are situated. In turn, they expand the opportunities and influence we have as designers.

Presenters: 

Chelsea Johnson, David Baker Architects

Kate Mazade, FTWtoday

Emily Roush-Elliott, Delta Design Build Workshop

Lucy Begg, Thoughtbarn

Moderator: Name, Affiliation

Defining and Redefining Affordable Housing Design Standards Through A Wellness Lens
Camille Sherrod, Florencia Jouan, Daniela León, Joelle Guay & Thomas Wensing, Kean University

Regenerative Sustainability as a Catalyst for Community Salutogenic Health
Lisa Platt, University of Florida

A Polyvalent Approach to High-Density Housing: Rethinking NYC’s Housing Design Guidelines
Katharina Kral & Yue Lin, Cornell University

Thinking Inside the Box: Radically Rethinking Graduate Student Housing
Ahmed Ali, Texas A&M University
Rohit Kumar, Piloo Mody College of Architecture
Patricia Kio, University of Florida