A Creative Housing Design Competition

The Michigan “MISSING MIDDLE” Housing Design Competition

An open design competition intended to spur the development of creative, mixed-income and, affordable “Missing Middle” Michigan housing developments in our state’s downtowns and along key transit corridors.  

Overview

As the demand for living in urban environments continues to strengthen across the State of Michigan, the need to accommodate the growing contemporary housing market has become much more apparent. While certain types of housing have been developed to meet the demand, such as adaptive re-use conversions and higher density single-family residential projects, there are still a number of housing typologies that have not been commonly built. This “Missing Middle” Housing type is one that consists of very affordable medium density residential units, typically inserted into tight sites in previously developed areas and within pedestrian-oriented environments.


Context and Regional Emphasis

There is considerable variation in the urban environments of Michigan. However, there are physical elements, materials, uses and site orientations that can be identified as indicative of Michigan specifically and the Great Lakes Region generally. Consequently, design solutions proposed for this “Missing Middle” Michigan Housing Design Competition should strongly consider these context and regional issues as an important part of the development of any responsive and creative design concept submitted.



Diagram compliments of Opticos Design, Berkeley, CA

Key Competition Dates:

Competition Registration Opens:

Monday, January 26, 2015
Timely Registration Deadline:

Monday, March 16, 2015, 4:00pm EDT
Late Registration (+50%) Deadline:

Monday, April 6, 2015, 4:00pm EDT
Submission Deadline:

Friday, May 22, 2015, 4:00pm EDT
Winners Advised:

Friday, June 5, 2015
Awards Symposium: June 23, 2015, One Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI


Competition Sponsors

The following organizations have come together to sponsor this competition and help stimulate significant interest in this important design exploration. They include:

    AIA Michigan - A Society of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

    Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA)

    Michigan State University Land Policy Institute (MSU LPI)

    Michigan Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism (MiCNU)

    Michigan Municipal League (MML)

    Michigan Association of Planning (MAP)

    Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN)

●     Habitat for Humanity of Michigan

     Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM)

 
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