The Most Beautiful Housing Around

A discussion hosted by the Green New Deal-boosting Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative(SC)2 at UPenn, co-sponsored by the Pratt School of Architecture’s Desegregation Think-Tank, highlighted Via Verde in the Bronx as an exemplar of future-oriented social housing. The project, which brought 222 affordable units to the resurgent Melrose neighborhood in 2012, was designed by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw for the Phipps Houses Group and Jonathan Rose Companies, two forward-thinking clients focused on community wellness. Pratt’s Karen Kubey, explaining that “housing justice is racial justice,” highlighted that the project—Christmas tree farm and all—is a highly replicable one. Daniel Aldana Cohen, (SC)2 director, added that although green social housing has a ways to go in America, it represents “the most beautiful housing around.” South Bronx community leader Jessica Clemente highlighted the development’s robust connection between indoors and outdoors, adding that associated efforts to bring Community Land Trusts and other grassroots-level development strategies to the borough support “safety, culture-keeping, and recreation.”