Student Design & Planning Competition

About the Competition

HUD PD&R invites teams from accredited educational institutions in the United States to participate in its Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition. Teams must be comprised of students enrolled in a graduate degree program.

Transforming our Communities

The need for quality, affordable housing has never been greater. At its best, housing can help strengthen the social and physical fabric of communities and neighborhoods. It is the hope of HUD and PD&R that by initiating and funding this competition, a new generation will advance the design and production of livable and sustainable housing for low- and moderate-income people through research and innovation.

Making it Actionable

The IAH competition has been designed to replicate a real-life approach. Multi-disciplinary teams comprised of graduate students in architecture, planning and policy, finance and other areas will be asked to address social, economic, and environmental issues in responding to a specific housing problem developed by an actual public housing agency (PHA), tribe or tribally designated housing entity (TDHE).

The Importance of a Team Approach

This competition is designed to encourage research and innovation in affordable housing, to raise practitioner and future practitioner capacity, and to foster cross-cutting team-work within the design and community development process. The IAH will join the suite of annual PD&R awards for community planning, historic preservation, and affordable housing design.

Multidisciplinary teams must be comprised of a minimum of three students and a maximum of five, plus one faculty advisor. Each team must have members representing three different graduate level programs; one of which must be from an architectural or design-related program, and one of which must be from a non-architectural program. There are many acceptable permutations; here are some examples for clarity:

• 2 M. Architecture candidates
• 1 M. Planning or Public Policy candidate
• 2 MBA candidates

• 1 M. Urban Planning
• 1 M. Real Estate Development
• 2 MBA candidates

• 1 M. Architecture
• 1 M. Economics
• 1 M. Public Policy

If you have questions about acceptable team combinations, please email us at iah@huduser.gov.

Registration:

Registration is closed.

Faculty Responsibility:

The faculty advisor may be from any of the team-represented disciplines and serves only in an advisory role, not as an active team participant.

Eligibility:

1. All team members must be enrolled in a graduate degree program from an accredited educational institution in the United States.
2. All team leaders must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
3. All teams must be comprised of at least three citizens or permanent residents of the United States.