SIGUS: Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement

Massachussetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning

Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2001

City:
Boston, Massachusetts
Country:
USA
Year:
2001

 

BUILDING AFFORDABLE COMMUNITIES 

This competition for affordable housing required use of polyurethane materials in addressing affordable housing issues. The SIGUS Team approached the issue from a community scale and from the standpoint of upgrading, not as a new intervention. A "Woonerf" – the Dutch name for a concept which transfers residential streets from traffic to people: an integration of housing, traffic, and people – was adopted as the framework for building communities. Prototype housing improvements were proposed, as well as recognition that 'homecenters' are the key to owner-dweller involvement.

The team consisted of Owiso Makuku, Albert Presti, and Paki Taylor.