More than Just Looking Good: Toward an Evidence-Based Design Practice in Affordable Housing
Mar 10th, 2008
The problem is not so much what we don't know; it's what we think we know that just ain't so. - Mark Twain
When asked how design can enhance the economic and social performance of affordable housing, architects often resort to hunches or dated generalizations. As Mark Twain's statement above suggests, relying on the certainty of our anecdotes may come back to haunt us - and the residents for whom we build. This paper speaks to this concern by first briefly profiling the evidence-based practice of healthcare design, and deriving a general framework for the development of such evidence-based practice within the affordable housing arena. It then describes two initiatives at Arizona State University's Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family that reflect components of this evidence-based design orientation. And it concludes by recommending further efforts to foster an evidence-seeking design culture within affordable housing design practice.
Click here for the full ACSA Report (see pp. 27-33 for paper).