Support for Housing-Focused Studios and Project-Based Classes at the Graduate School of Design

The Joint Center for Housing Studies offers financial support for Graduate School of Design (GSD) studios and project-based classes that focus on housing-related economic, social, or environmental challenges. While faculty from any GSD department or program can apply for funding, proposals must have the support of the appropriate department chair. Applications are due by Friday, April 17, 2026. Funding decisions, which will be announced by early May, will be made as part of the overall studio approval process, which involves the dean, department heads, and other senior faculty members appointed by the dean. 

What Types of Housing Challenges Can the Studios Explore?

The Center seeks to fund studios that focus on areas where design can help address housing-related challenges. The Center is especially interested in proposals that relate to economic, environmental, social, or demographic challenges, especially those associated with the Center’s core research areas. These might include studios focused on such as topics as affordability; reducing the carbon footprint of new and/or existing housing; facilitating aging in place; furthering the adaptive reuse of existing structures; creating new forms of social housing; or fostering new forms of living that have emerged in response to both the increasing cost of housing and changing preferences for living arrangements.

How Much Funding is Available?

The Center makes up to $50,000 available annually to support housing-focused studios and project-based classes. In many cases, the money covers a studio’s full cost; in other cases, studios receive funding from other sources as well. 

What Can the Funding Be Used For?

Consistent with GSD’s policies for studios, the funds can be used to cover travel and lodging for enrolled students in the studio and the faculty member (or faculty members). Funds can also be used to support studio-related research done by a student Research Assistant and towards the preparation of a studio report. 

How Will the Center Review the Proposals? 

The Center’s leaders, in consultation with its Faculty Advisory Committee, will assess the proposals in two key dimensions: 

• Their alignment with the Center’s core research interests. 

• The distribution of funding over time among the three departments with the goal of trying to encourage and support studios across all departments. 

Who Will Decide What Will Be Funded? 

Drawing on all these assessments, the Center will give GSD Dean Sarah Whiting its recommendations on which studios and courses the Center should support. In consultation with the department chairs and others, Dean Whiting will decide how to allocate funds from the Center as well as other resources that could support housing-related studios and courses. 

Where Can I Get More Information?

If you have questions, please contact David Luberoff, Director of Fellowships and Events. If you have specific questions about preparing a budget for a studio, please contact Pilar Raynor Jordan in the Academic Affairs Business Office.