PROJECTS
Marianna Godfrey, Yingqui Cui
Fan Bai, Ying Wang
Upzone+
With a growing population of 123,000, including some of University of Michigan’s student body, Ann Arbor is often cited as the best place to live in the state; it is also one of the least affordable. Rising housing prices; decreased racial, ethnic, and income diversity; a downtown housing market catering to students and loft-like living; and suburban sprawl threaten the city’s progressive image and commitment to addressing climate change. The well-known image of the city–a walk-able historic downtown, and tree-lined residential blocks–is countered by the reality of the car-based culture that surrounds it.
Through the seemingly mundane vehicle of zoning, A2 can create an urbanism built around new forms of community to dense mixed neighborhoods, shared resources, and collective life within enhanced and diverse transportation corridors. Working with the recently passed Transit Corridor Zoning as it applies to several blocks along West Stadium Boulevard, Upzone+ will address three critical issues for Ann Arbor and similar communities: the need for affordable/attainable and equitable housing, changing demographics and evolving family and household formations, and the restructuring of domestic economics and transit to combat climate change. The studio will consider housing typologies to overcome the current segmentation of housing options based on age, income, and household structure; construction methods and materials (e.g. timber) to reduce the carbon footprint of new buildings; and programming that delivers a greater mix of neighborhood amenities.