These are the questions that Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers, an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, sets out to investigate and answer. A partnership between the Citizens Housing & Planning Council and the Architectural League of New York, the project attempts to disrupt New York's present housing situation by exposing the regulations that make finding safe and agreeable housing difficult, along with those policies that make building new housing models nearly impossible. Many of the city's housing codes, instituted throughout the 20th century, are outmoded and counterproductive — misrepresenting the city's current demographics and urban fabric. The result is a discrepancy between the homes that people need and those they can find.
The Making Room project began with a Design Challenge in the Fall of 2011. Five architect teams were tasked with designing new building types and domestic models. The projects, lead by architects Stan Allen and Rafi Segal, Deborah Gans, Team R8, Ted Smith, and a team of young designers mentored by Peter Gluck, envisioned scenarios in which homes could accommodate the contemporary New York household — these, as it turns out, are not the nuclear households of our past, which many building codes tend to favour. Only 18 per cent of the city's housing is occupied by the so-called nuclear family; that is, two parents and children under the age of 25. In fact, the majority of households are increasingly made of singles, couples with no children, single parent families and a number of other diverse arrangements.
![Top: Architects Stan Allen and Rafi Segal proposed modifying three regulations — occupancy, minimum room and unit size, and live/work. Above: Deborah Gans' proposal <em>Local Addition</em> depicts the single-family home transforming in stages to accommodate a household's changing needs Top: Architects Stan Allen and Rafi Segal proposed modifying three regulations — occupancy, minimum room and unit size, and live/work. Above: Deborah Gans' proposal <em>Local Addition</em> depicts the single-family home transforming in stages to accommodate a household's changing needs](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_4109_02_Gans_model1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![<em>A Home of One's Own</em>, by Peter Gluck, Terri Chiao, Deborah Grossberg Katz, Joseph Vidich, and Leigha Dennis doubles the density of the ubiquitous New York City townhouse lot by arranging micro-lofts along a thin side-yard <em>A Home of One's Own</em>, by Peter Gluck, Terri Chiao, Deborah Grossberg Katz, Joseph Vidich, and Leigha Dennis doubles the density of the ubiquitous New York City townhouse lot by arranging micro-lofts along a thin side-yard](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_3238_03_Gluck_model3_sm1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
While specific designs are suggested, the point is that by making a few updates in policy and recalibrating our perception of the contemporary home, we can extend the possibilities for housing New York City's growing and diverse population
![Yokohama Apartments, Yokohama, Japan, 2009. Architect: ON Design (Osamu Nishida). Courtesy ON Design
Yokohama Apartments, Yokohama, Japan, 2009. Architect: ON Design (Osamu Nishida). Courtesy ON Design](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_5339_04_Japan-Yokohama1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![Team R8 (Jonathan Kirschenfeld, Karen Kubey, Nancy Owens, Susanne Schindler, Brian Schulman, Erin Shnier, and Margaret Tobin), in City as a Living Room, points out that if the same regulations presently used for Supportive Housing were applied to a wide variety of sites, we could already be producing mid-rise dense housing throughout the city Team R8 (Jonathan Kirschenfeld, Karen Kubey, Nancy Owens, Susanne Schindler, Brian Schulman, Erin Shnier, and Margaret Tobin), in City as a Living Room, points out that if the same regulations presently used for Supportive Housing were applied to a wide variety of sites, we could already be producing mid-rise dense housing throughout the city](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_2707_05_Kirschenfeld_model1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![<em>A Home of One's Own</em> features 4,5 metre ceiling heights and large mezzanines, used used to express a sense of openness in an otherwise small space <em>A Home of One's Own</em> features 4,5 metre ceiling heights and large mezzanines, used used to express a sense of openness in an otherwise small space](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_1793_06_Gluck_model1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![By exchanging elevators for common spaces and arranging units along the length of the building, one can build more units more affordably — giving the growing constituency of singles, elderly and small families the option to live roommate-less without sacrificing amenities like private bathrooms and kitchens By exchanging elevators for common spaces and arranging units along the length of the building, one can build more units more affordably — giving the growing constituency of singles, elderly and small families the option to live roommate-less without sacrificing amenities like private bathrooms and kitchens](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_6885_07_Gluck_model2_sm1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![<em>A Home of One's Own</em> by Peter Gluck, Terri Chiao, Deborah Grossberg Katz, Joseph Vidich, and Leigha Dennis <em>A Home of One's Own</em> by Peter Gluck, Terri Chiao, Deborah Grossberg Katz, Joseph Vidich, and Leigha Dennis](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_7599_08_Gluck_model4_sm1.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
![The Scaletta Apartments, Tokyo, Japan, 2005.
Architect: Milligram Studio (Tomoyuki Utsumi).
Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York
The Scaletta Apartments, Tokyo, Japan, 2005.
Architect: Milligram Studio (Tomoyuki Utsumi).
Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York](/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/05/making-room/big_407479_2823_09_Milligram-2_2.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)