The College of Built Environments launched a funding opportunity for those whose research has been affected by the ongoing pandemic. The Research Restart Fund, with awards up to $5,000, has awarded 4 grants in its first of two cycles.
A grant was awarded to Real Estate faculty member Arthur Acolin, who is partnering with the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development to understand barriers that homeowners, particularly those with lower incomes, face to building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the city. Acolin and OPCD planner Nick Welch will be surveying homeowners whose properties would allow for ADUs, but who aren’t yet on the city’s records for building these units, to understand needs for financial and/or other support. The City of Seattle includes ADU development in its strategy for increasing the supply of affordable housing.
Additionally, a grant was awarded to Architecture faculty member Vikram Prakash to support his efforts, in collaboration with colleague Mark Jarzombek, to publish a book entitled A House Deconstructed. Through this project, the scholars ask, “how can we imagine a different way of teaching, learning about, and building architecture—indeed a new form of architectural agency for the future.”
In support of another publication project, a grant was awarded to Architecture faculty member Ann Huppert as she continues to author Building Knowledge: The Culture of Construction in Sixteenth-Century Rome, a scholarly exploration of the deeply collaborative nature of architecture. The funds will augment Huppert’s Visiting Senior Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. where she will be writing a chapter of her book.
The fourth grant was awarded to Branden Born, with Urban Design and Planning; and Ken Yocom, with Landscape Architecture, to help support their efforts to build the Seattle Neighborhood Ambassador Program (SNAP). SNAP is envisioned as an education and training program for Rainier Valley residents and community organizations, where participants would learn about urban planning while receiving support for community-based projects through direct engagement with City and County partners.
CBE will award another cycle of Research Restart grants in fall 2022.