Architecture

Has the Time Arrived for Affordable Co-Housing in New York? 
                        
Wednesday, March 13
8:00 PM

Illustrated lecture and moderated panel discussion

In the context of the recently announced ShareNYC housing program put forward by New York City’s Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), this panel discussion will explore new models of co-living and shared housing. As the NY Times put it, the ShareNYC program seeks “proposals for private development sites that favor mostly income-restricted units, including those for very low-income renters. The units will vary in design, but will likely run between 150 and 400 square feet per bedroom, may or may not have private bathrooms, and will include a common kitchen and living space that is shared with other roommates…”  
     ShareNYC thus picks up where the CHPC and the Architectural League’s Making Room initiative left off in 2011: challenging building regulations which often no longer meet the realities of today’s households but govern the types of housing we build.    
     As part of Making Room, Team R8 developed several new models for sharing not only space, but the resources invested in housing. Two members of the original Team R8—architect Jonathan Kirschenfeld and developer Margaret Tobin—will present relevant portions of their 2011 proposal The Pleasures of Density: Flexible Single and Shared Housing on the Grand Concourse. They will then show current housing plans developed together with architect Susanne Schindler in response to ShareNYC for co-living units in Mott Haven, Bronx in collaboration with the community-based group South Bronx Unite.  
     The panel discussion afterwards, moderated by NY Times Design Critic Michael Kimmelman, will provide a broader context to these critical affordable housing issues, and further the debate as to the best ways to design and manage these new shared housing models. How might these new typologies contribute to a more equitable and affordable New York City?