Videos

Community-driven neighborhood planning, Detroit, USA - The design proposal for a neighborhood in Detroit repositions infrastructure as a civic project, under the name of The Seebaldt Pilot (TSP). Building on longterm community engagement, the large group of collaborators proposes a pilot project for local energy and food production, water and waste management, and community empowerment.

Modular midrise housing, Vancouver, Canada - To provide affordable housing, the proposal introduces a midrise, mixed use building type. The project is part of a longer study by the authors to improve the economic and spatial models for affordable housing.

Net-zero greenhouse for Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA - This project reimagines the greenhouse as a locally-sourced, low-energy building linking Wellesley College to the local community. It is conceived as an educational link between the institution and the community. This project reimagines the greenhouse – typically an energy and water-intensive program – as a net zero energy building.

Modular edible insect farm, New York City, USA - This pavilion is a demonstration of an urban farming system that minimizes the ecological footprint of protein- rich food production. Animal meat production is extremely resource intensive. This project proposes an alternative that emits just 1 % of the greenhouse gas emissions and requires 0.001 % of the land to produce the same amount of protein annually when compared to beef production.

UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA - The project’s basic objectives are twofold: to rehabilitate existing urban and architectural elements – through adaptive reuse and complementary additions; and to frame a discourse on the role of mundane construction as the generator of space and form.

All-timber high-rise load-bearing structure, Portland, OR, USA - The design of “Ingrained Framework” proposes a 12-level building using wood as the principal construction material. Intended for realization in the city of Portland, Oregon, the design recognizes timber as an important local resource, acknowledging the region’s longstanding tradition in wood construction. 

Urban watershed framework plan, Conway, AR, USA - This project reconstructs the wetland corridors lost to a previous generation of urban expansion. The new zones of green connectivity act as flood management and water filtration zones.

The LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition in North America went to Gloria Lee and Nathan Swift of SwiftLeeOffice in Pasadena, CA, USA. The two architects designed a new school building prototype for the Los Angeles Unified School District to replace several inadequate temporary structures.