Fulbright Recipient Susan Massey Looks at Australia's Affordable Housing Model
Susan Massey completed her master's in architectural history and theory from the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of a U.S. Department of State Student Fulbright Fellowship, and is conducting research in Australia.
Q: What prompted you to apply for the U.S. Department of State Student Fulbright program?
I have been interested in Australia’s recent environmentally sustainable affordable housing initiative. With the Fulbright award comes access to people, policy, and information beyond the superficial research I am able to conduct remotely on my own.
Q: What city will you be living in?
Melbourne
Q: Could you describe the work/research you’ll be doing overseas?
In Australia, water and energy performance is now influencing affordable (government-funded) housing design decisions. In contrast, architectural style—usually a nostalgic idea of what a middle-class "home" looks like—tends to drive low-income housing design in the United States. Imposing aesthetic design guidelines on low-cost housing can potentially affect water and energy costs over time. My research will explore the perceived value of architectural style compared to increased water and energy efficiency, and the role of policy in creating the value assigned to each.
Q: What sparked your interest in this area?
In the fall of 2005, I was an outreach student at the Rural Studio, an architecture design-build studio supported by Auburn University that promotes socially responsible architecture in economically disadvantaged communities in rural western Alabama. While there, my teammates and I designed a $20,000 house to be built with $8,000 in materials and $12,000 in labor. This was the amount which a single, elderly person living solely on disability could qualify for under the HUD 502 Rural Development loan program.
Designing sustainably within these budget parameters was complicated by certain aesthetic criteria required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at the state level, such as a sod grass lawn, and by other strong “suggestions” that favored a traditional appearance. Passive solar and natural ventilation can be achieved without expensive technology but will likely result in different massing and materials than are currently preferred. So, I sought out other policy models and found Australia’s recent initiatives in contrast.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about this opportunity?
I’m looking forward to exposing the biases of each policy model, what they afford and what they disallow, in order to open up the conversation about policy’s role in supporting responsible design. Neither model is perfect, but each contributes a distinct view that invites further consideration. It’s important that policy not bias aesthetics to the exclusion of performance or vice versa.
Q: What do you hope to contribute to your field and to the global community from your work?
As government investment in low-income housing increases, I hope that publishing my studies will invite awareness and reform for the architect’s role in policy. An architect's contribution is not as a purveyor of technical drawings or arbiter of taste, but as an invested citizen who gathers information, interprets it, and then allocates resources accordingly as part of the design process.
Q: What role did the International Institute play in helping you realize this opportunity?
While the International Institute was a great liaison throughout the application process, it was the personal interview they arranged with University of Michigan professors that was especially helpful in polishing the application for the final submission.
Q: What advice would you give to other students interested in pursuing the Student Fulbright Program?
If you have a passion that you can turn into a proposal, DO IT. If you simply want to study abroad and are subsequently trying to find a compelling reason to do so, it will likely be apparent in your proposal— to the detriment to of your application.
|
