In the United States, the mainstream private-enterprise building industry (let’s call it ‘Big Builder’) is preoccupied with large, highly lucrative housing projects that range from market rate to above-market-rate (luxury). These days, Big Builder may throw small quantities of affordable housing into the mix in order to snack on government LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credits).
In the hallowed US tradition, pursuit of profit is the focus of architectural firms that support Big Builder. Housing design to reduce costs, perhaps shrinking housing size, finding new materials or new building techniques? That’s far from a priority for the industries that comprise Big Builder, even as the affordable housing crisis deepens.
There are a few rays of sunshine in this gloomy picture, however. One is a project that has been underway for some time at the College of Architecture at Auburn University. Read more in Curbed: How a college architecture studio is tackling the affordable housing crisis
