Future Shack: What is Our Future for Residential Architecture?

If you’re an urban dweller, you’ve seen your share of bad architecture and homes that are somewhat passable. Whether it’s in a highly dense city such as New York, where New York’s median sale price per square foot is $325, vs. Phoenix, whose median sale price is $100 per sq ft., we all desire homes that offer us a decent place to live as well as accessibility to the necessary amenities such as food and transportation, not to mention shopping and entertainment.

New Urbanism, described as “a growing movement of architects, planners, developers, and others, using principles of planning and architecture that work together to create human-scale, walkable communities” is trying to get a handle on growth in a smart way.

But, what is it that we desire in urban living? What kinds of designs can make our lives easier and  lessen the impact on our planet? As Slate’s Witold Rybczynski writes, “… we will have to do a lot more than switch to reusable shopping bags and recycle our soda cans” in order to reduce our carbon footprint.

City planners have been wrestling with density which means making neighborhoods walkable (what’s your WalkScore?) and sustainable. As a matter of fact, here in Seattle, the Seattle Chapter of American Institute of Architects is sponsoring an event on Sept. 13 called “Future Shack.” It will explore residential urban design from more than 70 projects submitted by architects from the region. From bungalows to lofts to high rises, there will be judging by two panels: one made up of professional architects and planners and the other regular ‘ol citizens, such as Knute Berger of Crosscut.

Should be interesting to hear about their findings.