HUD Competitions
"The Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition is an exciting initiative from HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research"
Every year the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the US holds a student competition. I participated all three years as a student at the USC School of Architecture with a team of five students, of which the majority were women.
What attracted me about the competition was being able to contribute to how to improve affordable housing in the United States, which historically has a bad name. In contrast, coming from a country and specifically a city where affordable housing has been continuously praised for being done so well.
My conclusion on the experiences and research done throughout participating in these competitions is that the cultural and systemic differences have a lot to do with the successes and unsuccessfulness of affordable housing in either country. I was not able to 'trust' the same things in the US, as I can in the Netherlands.
My conclusion on the experiences and research done throughout participating in these competitions is that the cultural and systemic differences have a lot to do with the successes and unsuccessfulness of affordable housing in either country. I was not able to 'trust' the same things in the US, as I can in the Netherlands.
The other aspect on the competition that attracted me, was the mandatory interdisciplinary team assembly. Getting to work with (graduate) students that are completing a different degree and therefore bringing different issues and points of view to the table, was incredibly educational.
Submission 2021: Firebaugh First
In the final year I could participate, I was determined to assemble a team of students with more knowledge and skills than the years prior. Through doing a certificate in business fundamentals at the USC Marshall School of Business and being active in the student organisation of the USC School of Architecture (GASA), as well as the past two years of experience in participating, I was happy to assemble a team with three graduate architecture students, one dual degree heritage conservation and public policy graduate student and one graduate student in entrepreneurship and innovation.
The site location was in Firebaugh California, which all of us architecture students were able to visit, which was incredibly helpful to understand the scope of the project. There were existing houses that were still mostly occupied, so in addition to a design, we had to think about phasing of the construction, which I very much enjoyed. Additionally, we were determined to think about a better way to construct these houses, making them more sustainable and better equipped for inhabiting throughout the seasons (thermal enveloppe), as well as a faster way to built, almost with just a kit of (mostly local) parts. Durability and affordable user costs, were at the forefront, with a project site organisation that would be pleasant, walkable and safe.
Submission 2020: Pueblo de Nuevo Comienzos
In my second semester we participated again: my partner and I, with a few different students from the USC Price School of Urban Planning and Public Policy, which was quite refreshing!
The project site this year was in Santa Fe, New Mexico and we actually decided to make a trip from Los Angeles to visit the site around New Year’s, to see and experience the site and its surroundings. This gave me a much better understanding of the project.
The main focus in our design was the use of rammed earth and what that does to the atmosphere of a neighborhood, as well as combining the American car culture with a pleasant walkable neighborhood for all those residing and visiting this area. The long strip of land was a unique aspect to the site and we designed this as a promenade along the project. Again, the main focus on the submission was the graphic representation to bring the numerous ideas we had across with enough depth.
Submission 2019: The Nest
During my first semester at the USC School of Architecture (Fall 2018), my partner and I found out about this competition and immediately decided to participate. It was the first architecture competition I participated in.
Since we were in the same program and did not make enough connections to know where to start looking for teammates from other studies, connected a team of three students from the School of Urban Planning and Public Policy, through a professor, and they were happy to have us join!
The project site was in San Antonio, Texas, along the San Antonio River and very close to the city center. The deliverables were calculations on feasibility, written statement and various drawings. As architecture students, my partner and I took on the design aspect, per the instructions of the other students who would give us the boundaries in numbers.
With this being my first competition I was looking forward to being extra creative and I wanted to use skills I had not used before: the main ones being diagramming, perspectives and using colored markers.
