AIA Disruptive Housing Competition

Disruptive Design was a three-part design competition seeking concepts for sustainable, affordable, replicable, dynamic, and multi-faceted housing solutions that build wealth and opportunities for homeowners across Chicago.

Home designs submitted in this competition could not exceed a $250,000 sales price.

Under our proposal, the carriage house became the catalyst for a larger transformation — the first step toward widespread homeownership, wealth-building, social mobility, and urban densification.

• We proposed zoning changes to allow lot owners to rebuild carriage houses as standalone, single-family residences, utilizing prefabrication to reduce upfront costs. Resilience was created through durable details and materials.
• Carriage-house owners would have smaller mortgages and, subsequently, reinvest into the neighborhood and their futures.