UIC students win affordable housing design and planning competition

UIC students Bailey Werner, Alexandra Pollock, Emily Etzkorn, Michael Cullen and Wen Po Hsu won first place in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Innovation in Affordable Housing student design and planning competition.

The interdisciplinary group of five graduate students represented the urban planning and policy, city design, architecture and public health master’s programs at UIC. Rachel Weber, professor of urban planning and policy, served as faculty adviser on the project.

UIC’s group was one of four teams selected by a jury of five industry subject matter experts to advance to the finals based on their initial proposal. After a site visit and refining their proposal, the team traveled to HUD’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., April 12 to present their final proposal to the jury and audience. The students were awarded $20,000 for their winning design solution for an affordable housing development in Chicago’s Lincoln Park community area.