Why should the big spenders have a monopoly on architecturally distinctive dwellings?
Architects and developers of affordable housing, with the help of city planners, are beginning to inject more imagination and innovation into the design for modest homes.
In the greater Milwaukee area, a partnership between the American Institute of Architects’ Wisconsin’s southeast chapter and architecture students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is reinventing residential design in the lower price points, producing drawings for three modernist homes will sell for about $150,000. Students will design 1,400 square-foot infill homes for vacant lots in central city neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha.
The local Habitat for Humanity is adding more sensitively designed roofs, windows and porches to its standard house design that will be part of 22 new units this year. And the city of Milwaukee promises to streamline approval for proposals for affordable housing to go on city-owned land that adhere to prototypes of modernist and neo-traditional designs.
FULL STORY: Architects show modest budgets don't require modest design
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
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Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
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LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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