Previous Events

Peter Barber is the founder of Peter Barber Architects, an award-winning practice based in London known for its radical approach to social housing and urban planning. Barber will highlight some of the firm’s social housing projects and will review the political and ideological context in which these and other projects were conceived.

In recent years, the cost of residential property insurance has risen dramatically, driven by losses from environmental hazards. Steven Koller, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate and Housing at the Center, will explain how climate change is affecting both private and public entities that provide property insurance. Carlos Martín will join to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities facing residents, real estate investors, insurers, regulators, and policymakers.

What is the divergence between US housing policy and environmental policy, and how has it contributed to disparities in exposure to climate impacts? Carlos Martín, Director of the Center’s Remodeling Futures Program, will discuss the intersection between climate and housing policy, and areas for potential synergies. 

The US remodeling market soared above $600 billion in the wake of the pandemic, and despite recent softening remains 50 percent above pre-pandemic levels. Join us for the release of our biennial report, Improving America's Housing 2025.

How did America cease to be the land of opportunity? Yoni Appelbaum will discuss his new book which explores the people and ideas that caused Americans to lose their mobility and the decline in economic and social opportunity that has resulted.

Join us for a discussion on programs that are using a master leasing model—leasing privately owned units and subletting them at a subsidized rate—to create deeply affordable, permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.

In his new book, Jonathan Tarleton introduces two New York City social housing co-ops grappling with whether to keep units affordable or to make changes that would reap financial windfalls but price out future low-income tenants.

The number of cost-burdened renter households has reached a new record high, further deepening the affordability challenge that accelerated during the pandemic. Whitney Airgood-Obrycki will discuss persistent disparities in who experiences cost burdens and the urgent need for effective policies and subsidies to tackle these challenges.

While Zurich is a center of global finance it also has a century-old commitment to public benefit and nonprofit housing, implemented through a cooperative model of resource sharing. While the Zurich model cannot be fully transferred to cities in the US, there are lessons to be learned from its long-standing commitment to nonspeculation within a for-profit real estate market and for the role of design in that work.