A yearly project for the students of Yale School of Architecture called 'The Jim Vlock Building Project' aims to group freshmen students to come up with a low cost house prototype. The tradition sprung from 1967 and it still both timely and timeless, as many people are in need of affordable housing nowadays. The program is different from other architecture schools because it is required for all students in the class, according to Yale.
One exceptional output from the project is located in New Haven Connecticut. The 'demo-house' featured in Curbed is a product of the collaboration and hard work of more than 50 Yale students. Their objective is to build a a 1,000-square-foot (93 square metres) dwelling on a corner lot in the city's West River district, and the challenge is to plan an affordable yet innovative house prototype that could be built in different urban environments around the country.
The process was tedious as in all school assignment; students were divided into 8 groups. Each group came up with different design schemes and they had to present their proposal to a panel of faculty members and guest jurors.
Students started building the prototype of the winning proposal and the target of presenting the house was last October. The final product has received the 2015 Award of Merit for Student Design from the Connecticut Green Building Council.
The overall structure of the house is distinct among the others in the neighborhood as it is clearly modern in terms of design. It is built for functionality as all the parts of the house could be maximized in terms of use and space. The interior has concrete and bamboo flooring; there are big windows to allow natural light to brighten the living room area. And at the core of the house is a multi-functional 'box' because it contains both the kitchen, and the stairs leading to the 2nd floor.
A non-profit organization focused on developing low cost high quality housing called NeigborWorks New Horizons partnered with the school for the project. The organization was able to sell the house to a family who had lived in the neighborhood for a long time.
