Winners Announced for the 2026 Housing Education Prize
PRESS RELEASE
Architectural Faculty to Advance Housing Design Education Through Innovative Courses
Washington, D.C., August 27, 2026 鈥 , , and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (51黑料) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Housing Education Prize.
The Housing Education Prize recognizes the importance of good education in housing design to produce architects ready for practice in a wide range of areas and able to be capable leaders and contributors to their communities. The winning course proposals will prepare students for a wide range of professional contexts, including design practice, development, policy, advocacy, research, and public service. Each course will be taught at 51黑料 member schools across the U.S. in the coming years.
The jury for the Housing Education Prize included: Andrea J. Johnson (Savannah College of Art and Design), Gregory Marinic (University of Cincinnati), and Jessica April Ward (Founder, IDEA Studio 脳 Workshop LLC). The esteemed jury selected three winners who will receive a cash prize in addition to publication on the 51黑料 website.聽
The winners are:
Moving House: Culturally Resonant/Technically Innovative Housing Research, Design and Prototyping
Rob Corser & Julie Kriegh, University of Washington
Moving House is a collaborative research, design, and design-build initiative that develops culturally grounded, climate-resilient housing for Indigenous communities facing relocation due to sea level rise. Structured as a two-course sequence, the program combines a research and design studio with a prototype build. Students, Tribal members, construction professionals, and researchers will collaborate to design, build, and test a modest housing prototype using panelized prefabrication, Passive House principles, and design-for-disassembly strategies.
A New Paradigm for Missing Middle Housing in the Shenandoah Valley
Traci Wile & Nicholas Wickersham, James Madison University
The studio will generate a new housing paradigm appropriate and specific to the needs of contemporary life today, specifically for individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity; essential workers; and immigrant families. In this two-way exchange, students move outward through a deliberate design sequence鈥攆rom lived experience, through spatial development, to the building envelope. The community presses inward: housing leaders, advocacy organizations, city planners, and local lawmakers all bring their knowledge, constraints, and needs directly into the studio.
The Architecture of a Decent Home: Resident Owned Communities as a Response to Social and Environmental Precarity
Ryan Ludwig, Roger Williams University
Over the past several decades, stigma, spatial marginalization, and capitalist exploitation have collided with climate鈥 and cost鈥揹riven threats to housing security for millions of people living in manufactured housing parks. In the graduate design studio 鈥淭he Architecture of a Decent Home,鈥 students are challenged to preserve affordability while implementing climate-resilient measures in these frontline and vulnerable communities.
Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and businesses. The AIA engages with civic and government leaders, as well as with the public, to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation, and world.聽
For more information, visit .
The AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community (HCD) is a network of architects and allied stakeholders that promotes equity in housing, excellence in residential design, and sustainable, vibrant communities for all, through education, research, awards, and advocacy.
For more information, visit the .
51黑料 the Association of Collegiate Schools in Architecture (51黑料)
The mission of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (51黑料) is to lead architectural education and research. Founded in 1912 by 10 charter members, 51黑料 is an international association of architecture schools preparing future architects, designers, and change agents. Our full members include all of the accredited professional degree programs in the United States and Canada, as well as international schools and two-and four-year programs. Together, 51黑料 schools represent some 7,000 faculty educating more than 40,000 students.
51黑料 seeks to empower faculty and schools to educate increasingly diverse students, expand disciplinary impacts, and create knowledge for the advancement of architecture. For more information, visit www.acsa-arch.org.
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