BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.6//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:809@ssa.ccny.cuny.edu DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261105T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261105T173000 DTSTAMP:20261007T144336Z URL:https://ssa.ccny.cuny.edu/events/colloquium-why-housing-matters/ SUMMARY:Colloquium: Why Housing Matters DESCRIPTION:*Updated start time: 4 PM*\nPlease RSVP here.\nThis in-person c olloquium is part of the exhibition and event series celebrating 25 years of the CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) European Prize for Urban Public Space\, "Design Matters: In Favor of Urban Public Space" .\nWhat defines “secure” housing today? Who has access to it\, and who is left out? How do policies and markets shape these conditions? What rol e can design play in addressing displacement and affordability? And how m ight housing respond to climate realities while remaining equitable? What would it mean to treat housing as a right rather than a privilege? How can we imagine new models of living that support both individual dignity and collective well-being?\nIntroduction: Prof. Kaja Kuehl\n\nModerator: Prof. Laura Wainer\n\nPanelists (15-minute presentations):\n\nJing Liu\, Archit ect and Principal\, SO-IL\, New York\n\nCassim Shepard\, Distinguished Lec turer\, Spitzer School of Architecture\n\nCésar Vivas\, Architect and Fou nding Partner\, Vivas Arquitectos\, Barcelona\, Spain\n\nClaire Weisz\, FA IA\, Hon. FRAIC\, Hon. ASLA\, Founding Principal of WXY architecture + urb an design\n\n\nPanelists (left to right) Jing Liu\, Cassim Shepard\, Césa r Vivas\n\nProf. Kaja Kuehl (she/her) is Founding Principal at youaretheci ty\, a research and design practice based in Brooklyn\, NY.  Kaja has ext ensive architecture\, urban design\, and planning experience from large-sc ale urban systems and policies to civic engagement and circular material p ractices. Her current research and design work on designing with biobased materials has been published and exhibited widely and is subject to many o f her courses. Kaja received a Diploma in Architecture from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology\, Germany and a M.S. in Urban Planning from Columb ia University. She teaches seminars and design studios at Columbia Univers ity and the City College of New York in addition to frequent workshops in non-institutional settings.\n\nSuggested Reading: Kuehl\, Kaja\, and Julie Behrens. “Spaces of Migration.” Architectural Design 88\, no. 2 (2018 ): 86–93 and Kuehl\, Kaja. “Housing as Carbon Storage.” In Atlas for Regenerative Construction in the American Northeast\, 72–99. [New York] : youarethecity\, 2025.\n\nProf. Laura Wainer (she/her) studies how housin g policy and design shape social and political life. An Argentine architec t and urban planner\, she is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban ism at the Bernard &\; Anne Spitzer School of Architecture\, CCNY. In h er forthcoming book she argues that housing is where democracy is made mat erial: in who gets to own\, to stay\, to decide. More than twenty years of applied design practice and collaborations with institutions such as the International Growth Centre at Oxford\, Habitat for Humanity\, and the Lin coln Institute of Land Policy taught her to translate in both directions: to bring field evidence into scholarship\, and to make research legible to the people who actually build and govern cities. A Fulbright scholar\, sh e holds a PhD from MIT.\n\nSuggested Reading: Adler\, Vanessa\, and Tatian a Vera\, eds. Housing: What's Next? From Thinking the Unit to Building the City. Washington\, DC: Inter-American Development Bank\, 2018 and Wainer\ , Laura Sara\, Valeska Abarca\, Lorraine Colbert\, and Juan Jimenez Girald o. Pathways to Home: Design Solutions for Immigrant-Centered Housing. New York: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture\, The City Colle ge of New York\, 2025 and Wainer\, Laura Sara\, and Billy Ndengeyingoma. I ncremental Housing\, and Other Design Principles for Low-Cost Housing. Pro ject Report. London: International Growth Centre (IGC)\, November 2016 and Buckley\, Robert M.\, Achilles Kallergis\, and Laura Wainer. "The Emergen ce of Large-Scale Housing Programs: Beyond a Public Finance Perspective." Habitat International 54 (May 2016): 199–209.\n\nJing Liu (she/her) has been practicing for more than 15 years\, working on a wide range of projec ts both in the US and abroad. Through building practice and interdisciplin ary research projects\, Liu has led SO–IL in the engagement with the soc io-political issues of contemporary cities — in projects like the Artist s Loft North Omaha and the Martin Luther King\, Jr. Library in Cleveland. Her projects range from artistic collaborations with contemporary choreogr aphers and visual artists to master plan and major public realm design in cities like Melbourne and Indianapolis. Liu brings an intellectually open\ , globally aware\, and locally sensitive perspective to architecture. Her curiosity and artistic imagination allow her to bring a nuanced cultural p erspective to the table. Her keen skills in combining digital technology w ith traditional craft and firm belief in design’s ability to re-engage p eople with the physical world around them allow the buildings she designs to become places of exchange that welcome interpretation and transformatio n.\n\nSuggested Reading: SO–IL. In Depth: Urban Domesticities Today. New York: SO–IL\, 2024.\n\nCassim Shepard (he/him) writes and makes films a bout cities\, buildings and places. His film/video work has screened at th e Venice Architecture Biennale\, the Cooper Hewitt\, the African Centre fo r Cities\, and the United Nations\, among other venues internationally. Hi s writing on urbanism has appeared in Places\, Next City\, Domus\, Public Culture\, and more. He was founding editor-in-chief of Urban Omnibus\, an online publication of The Architectural League of New York\, which inspir ed his first book\, Citymakers: the Culture and Craft of Practical Urbanis m (Monacelli\, 2017). His current book project — “Self-help Housing: Incremental Approaches to Shelter since 1965” — is supported by fell owships from the Guggenheim Foundation and MacDowell. Shepard dire cts the BA program in Urban Studies and the Built Environment at the Spitz er School of Architecture\, City College\, City University of New York.\n\ nSuggested Reading: Places Journal. "Housing Legacies of John Turner." Pub lished November 1\, 2024.\n\nCésar Vivas (he/him) co-founded Vivas Arquit ectos with Cristian Vivas in 2006. The practice combines a systemic and pr agmatic approach with research into innovative solutions and unconventiona l construction systems. Its recent social housing projects focus on econom ic\, social\, and environmental sustainability\, using industrialized modu lar systems. The studio’s architecture is also distinguished by its care ful articulation of communal spaces\, conceived as transitional areas betw een public and private realms. Their projects encourage social interaction beyond functional requirements and offer residents flexible settings that can evolve and adapt to their changing needs and different stages of life .\n\nSuggested Reading: Cohousing in Barcelona: Architecture from/for the Community\, edited by D. Lorente\, T. Sakamoto\, R. Devesa\, and M. Bugés (Actar Publishers / Ajuntament de Barcelona).\n\nClaire Weisz\, FAIA\, Ho n. FRAIC\, Hon. ASLA\, is the founding principal of WXY architecture + urb an design\, a New York and Toronto-based practice recognized for community -centered work across architecture\, planning\, infrastructure\, and the p ublic realm. Weisz is committed to cities as shared civic environments sha ped through design\, policy\, and public engagement. Her work includes Ast or Place in Manhattan\, the Rockaway Boardwalk reconstruction\, and the Gl ass City Riverwalk in Toledo\, among other civic public projects. She co-f ounded The Design Trust for Public Space and has received the AIA New York Medal of Honor and Architectural Record’s Women in Architecture Award.\ n\nSuggested Readings: Weisz\, Claire. "As the City Adapts\, Will Nature G uide Design?" Oculus 86\, no. 1 (Winter 2024) and Weisz\, Claire\, and Jac ob Dugopolski. "The Form Density Takes." Vital City\, September 17\, 2025. \n\nAll colloquia are free\, open to the public\, and held in the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture Sciame Auditorium. For live captio ning\, ASL interpretation\, or access requests\, please contact ssadean@cc ny.cuny.edu. CATEGORIES:Events,Lectures,Sciame Lectures LOCATION:Sciame Auditorium (Room 107)\, 141 Convent Avenue\, New York\, NY\ , 10031\, United States GEO:40.8177595;-73.95047339999996 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=141 Convent Avenue\, New Yo rk\, NY\, 10031\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Sciame Auditori um (Room 107):geo:40.8177595,-73.95047339999996 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261101T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR