Jan. 9 – 11, 2025 | Austin, TX

2025 ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference:
NEW HOUSING PARADIGMS

Fall Conference

Schedule

September 4, 2024

Abstract Deadline

October 2024

Abstract Notification

January 9 – 11, 2025

New Housing Paradigms

Conference Recap

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) held their joint ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference in Austin, TX, January 9-11, 2025. Hosted by the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, the conference explored housing as a process, a product, and a place. The ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference coincided with the AIAS FORUM in Austin, creating an opportunity for each organization’s respective audience of educators, practitioners, and students to come together for a weekend of scholarly exchange. The conference brought together over 139 attendees from around the world who joined together to speculate on, advocate for, operate within, and struggle with new housing paradigms.

Ahead of the conference kickoff on Thursday, January 9, attendees embarked on a bus tour to visit the construction site of Wolf Ranch in Georgetown, Texas. Built by ICON and Lennar, one the Nation’s leading homebuilders, and codesigned by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, the innovative community of one hundred 3D-printed homes and will be powered by rooftop solar panels.

Later that evening, the 2025 ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference officially opened with a keynote address presented by Shaun Donovan, the CEO and President of Enterprise Community Partners. One of the Nation’s foremost leaders in housing and community development, Donovan’s 30-year career in public service has focused on building opportunity and fighting for people and communities too often left behind.⁠

During his keynote, Donovan emphasized the vital role of architects and designers in the current housing and climate crisis. As CEO and President of Enterprise, he highlighted the organization’s work in creating affirming, healthy, greener, and affordable housing while drawing on the connections between housing and the built environment.⁠ “Design professionals and scholars possess the unique ability to shape not only landscapes, but lives,” he stated. “How we engage with our built environment informs the society we live in, and a home is a constant that shapes the course of families in every corner of this country.”

⁠Donovan concluded his keynote with a call to action, encouraging conference attendees to join the movement by bringing architecture and design to the front and center of affordable housing and community development.⁠ Following the keynote address, attendees enjoyed an opening reception.

Shaun Donovan presenting the opening keynote

Day Two of the conference began with concurrent sessions on topics ranging from the intersection of housing design and climate justice to creative methods for centering people in the design process. There were a total of 171 research abstracts submitted with 64 accepted, resulting in a total of 16 research sessions throughout the conference.

The conference also included a series of special invited sessions as well as workshops. Attendees were invited to a workshop lunch sponsored by Autodesk, Inc. The workshop explored Autodesk Forma and Outcome Based BIM’s approach to addressing current housing challenges by combining sustainability and pedagogy.

The day concluded with a plenary hosted by Brooks + Scarpa. During the session, firm principals Jeffrey Huber and Lawrence Scarpa highlighted lessons they learned from their extensive experience in affordable housing design and discussed how innovative design strategies can overcome the challenges typically associated with affordable housing.

Affordable Housing: Design Matters
Brooks + Scarpa Plenary

Saturday, January 11, marked the final day of the conference. The day began with a series of concurrent sessions where attendees continued to discuss housing paradigms. Attendees also embarked on bus tours throughout Austin. The East Side Austin Tour explored Central East Austin, one of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods and home to many of Austin’s Black institutions including the Texas State Cemetery, the Oakwood Cemetery, and the Swedish Hill Historic District. The Mueller Neighborhood Bus Tour explored a 711-acre Planned Unit Development (PUD) in the east-central portion of the city of Austin, Texas. Mueller is a pedestrian-oriented, interactive mixed-use community and a model for responsible urban planning and development.

Following the sessions and tours, conferencegoers were shuttled to the University of Texas at Austin, where they walked to the LBJ Library to enjoy a closing keynote presented by spatial designer, artist, and cultural thinker, Michael Bennett. Introduced by ACSA President Cathi Ho Schar, Bennett shared details about his transition from Super Bowl-winning NFL player to studying architecture at the University of Hawaii. He shared how his experience as a Black man in America shaped his inspiration for creating Studio Kër, a sculptural furniture design studio that explores themes of intersectionality and diasporic identities.

Bennett highlighted design as a tool of resistance and emphasized the importance of sustainability, mental health, and fostering community. “Architecture to me was this idea about empathy for space, a dialogue, a dialogue between form and feeling,” he shared. “For me, when [I was] going to school, that was what I was going for, that was what I was longing for. It was like, ‘How can I actually identify what I was not seeing in my community?’”

Following the keynote, the conference concluded with a closing reception at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture as attendees reflected on their weekend of scholarly exchange, innovative ideas, and exploration.

The Architect’s Newspaper