Architecture and the Right to Housing in NYC

Thursday, October 9th, 2025. 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. Room UL105, New School University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY​.

New York City’s deepening housing crisis is marked by rising rents, shrinking affordability, and growing displacement. Decades of speculative development, state-backed gentrification, and the financialization of housing have reshaped neighborhoods, prioritizing profit over people. The crisis is not only about affordability but also about justice—who gets to stay, who is excluded, and whose voices shape the future of the city. Homelessness has reached record levels, public housing faces chronic underfunding, and so-called “affordable housing” programs often fail to meet the needs of low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. At the same time, grassroots movements and community coalitions, in collaboration with forward-thinking architects, are challenging these conditions, demanding housing as a human right and envisioning new models rooted in equity and care.

The right to housing—in New York and globally—isn’t just a political, legal and economic issue, but also an architectural one. What does the right to housing mean in practice? How can architects and other urban practitioners contribute? This event will bring together architects, planners, and housing justice advocates to explore how design and policy can confront the housing crisis and reimagine a more just, inclusive city.