Near Westside Story
Three houses in Syracuse win a sustainable design competition and reshape an urban neighborhood for $200,000 apiece.
When Mark Robbins came to Syracuse, New York, in 2004 to become dean of the Syracuse University School of Architecture, arguably no neighborhood was more emblematic of the city’s struggles—and its potential—than the Near Westside, a once-vibrant collection of bungalows and shotgun cottages west of downtown. Many of these structures had been demolished or fallen into disrepair as manufacturing jobs disappeared and residents fled for the suburbs, eroding the area’s urban fabric.
Robbins devised the From the Ground Up competition in 2008, inviting each team to submit plans for a well-designed, efficient single-family home to be built on one of three Near Westside vacant lots for $150,000. The overarching goal was to forge new models for residential infill development that could breathe new life into urban communities across the United States. “I wanted to see if we could build houses that simultaneously made propositions about sustainability and about the possibility of constructing houses in a city like Syracuse,” Robbins says.
He partnered with two regional organizations—Home HeadQuarters, which owned the land and served as general contractor, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence, which helped the architects meet sustainability goals—to construct the three winning designs. Unique mechanical and material requirements, along with Home HeadQuarters’ insistence that a basement be added to each house, nudged the price tag for each project north of $200,000. Construction was completed in the fall of 2010, and all three houses are now happily occupied by enthusiastic Near Westside newcomers.
Click here to read more on the R-House project
Click here to read about the Ted project
Click here to read about the Live Work Home project
Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!
Articles
-
Go West: DOD Westside Home Tour
June gloom greeted the Dwell on Design tourists early Saturday morning, but that didn’t damper their enthusiasm to get up close and personal with six residences in Dwell on Design’s…
-
Solar Decathlon Virtual Tours
Though I couldn’t make it out to Washington, DC, this weekend to see the final days of the Solar Decathlon—which wrapped up yesterday with Team Germany the winner—I have been…
-
Back Storied
Without altering its turn-of-the-20th-century facade, architect Christopher Polly transformed the rear of this Newtown, Australia, home from bleak to bright.
Product
-
Dear Ingo Chandelier
The Dear Ingo challenges preconceptions about everyday objects. Composed from 16 individual task lamps, the whole creates a dynamic chandelier. The spots can be directed, and the shape of the…
Events
-
Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller
This traveling exhibition showcases products designed by the renowned office furniture company, and was inspired by the recent book Herman Miller: the Purpose of Design by design scholar and…
-
Fairfield Porter Raw: The Creative Process of an American Master
Fairfield Porter Raw: The Creative Process of an American Master, an exhibition of approximately forty works drawn from the Parrish Art Museum's extensive Porter holdings, will open Sunday, April…
-
Immersive and Virtual Architecture at the Edge of Physicality
In this discussion, SCI-Arc hosts seven distinguished architects and theorists that work at the intersection of physical and virtual worlds. These professionals will present their work and ideas…
Table of Contents
Advertising
Advertising
Advertising
Related Products
-
Dear Ingo Chandelier
The Dear Ingo challenges preconceptions about…
Latest
-
05.16
The Making of Screenplay: Part 7
Jenny Wu, a partner at Oyler Wu Collaborative, documents the…
-
05.16
ICFF Preview: Plank by Eric Pfeiffer and Council
Oakland-based designer Eric Pfeiffer has been exhibiting…
-
05.14
LEGO® Design Competition Finalists
Dwell joined forces with Pacific Standard Time to appeal to…
Follow
Dwell
-
Super excited to see the new Plank series by Oakland's @plab and San Francisco's Council at #ICFF: http://t.co/JrPipATy #design
-
Just sent the #dod2012 show directory out the door. Excited for a great @dwellondesign this year! #LA #architecture
-
Ground floor of the new Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, featuring #lighting and #design by @Workstead. http://t.co/mauVKqFE
-
"I don’t want a house—I want a shed. A nice shed," says the owner of a house made from repurposed scrap: http://t.co/bGZcRZBz #homes
What a lovely home! Good for you for going green and taking care of our environment! What a beautiful homeowner and her happy dog!
This is really cool. My only complaint is that the Syracuse University School of Architecture and the SUNY ESF Landscape Architecture program should have been involved more. This could have turned into a really awesome learning experience for the local design students.
RSS Feed
Add a Comment