The Housing Crisis Is So Bad, Architects Are Hiding Apartments In Air Ducts
The urban housing crisis has become so dire that architects are exploiting planning -code loopholes to squeeze living spaces into every available area. And in London this means rooftop ventilation systems –well, sort of. This year the Architecture Foundation, a design advocacy group based in the United Kingdom, invited architects to come up with creative and sustainable housing alternatives for its Antepavilion competition. The winner, the London- based PUP Architects , proposed hiding apartments in plain sight to add much needed supply to the real estate market . The firm calls its idea “guerrilla habitation.” [Photo: Jim Stephenson/courtesy PUP Architects ] PUP Architects scoured planning regulations and discovered that builders don’t need official permission to install rooftop mechanical systems for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). By designing a unit that mimics the silhouette and look of an HVAC exhaust, PUP figured it could theoretically build thousands ...