Second place of the 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Tat Lam

‘Housing + Infrastructure: An active planning strategy subsidizing low income public housing’

Housing inequity is a common phenomenon throughout the world, in both developed and developing countries. The reasons for this phenomenon are many, but the main factor is the rapid development of the city and the privatization of lands and infrastructure without an adequate urban study. Conventional solutions are generally political and few considerations have been taken from the strategic planning of the urban space.

A public housing project in the 21st century must help low-income families obtain better living quality without the associated high costs. This project addresses the opportunity to create a hybrid typology between housing and the city infrastructure. It is not only an architectural hybrid, but a mix of two ideas: the desire to provide low-income families a better life and a high-profit business for the city itself. The use of political power will give ownership of the city’s infrastructure to the poor people. The city’s infrastructure and housing for low-income families become one, and in sharing the space allow cheaper construction costs, the creation of job opportunities, and the profit from infrastructure administration.

The project is located in Jamaica Center in New York City. The idea is to create large water tanks with treatment facilities for grey and black waters through the use of treatment plants in a large scale greenhouse that will also serve as a recreational space for the community. Housing will be attached to the infrastructure and residents will work in the treatment facilities.