Town Housing

2027 Competition Overview

Abundantly scattered about most of the country, towns, distinct from cities, represent a significant part of our built and social fabric outside of major urban centers. Separate from adjacent towns and having an identity their own. Some are ‘historic’ but all of them have a history and an identity. Small, but not always, with populations that range from a couple thousand to over ten thousand. They have main streets, commercial districts, or some smattering of buildings that provide a center. They are familiar to most of us. It’s a good chance you’re from one or know someone who was. These places are of particular interest given they’re usually of no interest, at least not in contemporary urban and architectural discourse.

Sited in Clarksdale, Mississippi, an historic Delta town approximately 75 miles south of Memphis, the project is to design housing for a community of 100 people along with a minimum of one commercial space with an affiliated program or purpose of your choosing. The configuration of the housing units and type (1, 2, 3 bedrooms, co-living, etc.,) is at the discretion of the entrant and should reflect their idea of a model for housing in this context, reflecting living arrangements and demographics they imagine best reflecting the population that would live here. The commercial space is the public face of the community, contributing to the narrative for the development and offering a bridge between current and new residents. It can be programmed or organized in a way that facilitates a use that suggest an evolution of the downtown.

Entrants are encouraged to be imaginative, speculative and resist norms of housing development and construction to posit a unique and specific architecture for Clarksdale. We seek a visionary architectural response that demonstrates how housing can strengthen community, activate downtowns, and help towns like Clarksdale thrive now and into the future.