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Sydney is facing an unprecedented housing availability and affordability problem unlike ever before. To address this issue, the City of Sydney made a bold move. They invited the public to put forward their best ideas to re-imagine housing in the future.

The Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge attracted international recognition with over 230 submissions. The city's panel of experts shortlisted 7 finalists from Australia and around the world. The best filled the brief to increase alternative and affordable housing supply across the city and reduce housing stress. The models ranged from financing, design, building, ownership and management, and are expected to provide the City with lessons for future projects.

As part of the Sydney Architecture Festival, the 7 shortlisted teams of the City of Sydney’s Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge will give us insight into their creative concepts. With a panel of experts, we’ll examine scalability, applicability, assess feasibility and discuss what the future of housing could look like.

A panel discussion on the future of housing will feature:

• Stephen Varady – Architect and Director, Stephen Varady Associates
• Professor Bill Randolph – Director, City Futures Research Centre, Built Environment UNSW SYDNEY
• Helen O’Loughlin – Social Commissioner, Greater Sydney Commission
• Paul Karakusevic – Founding Partner, Karakusevic Carson Architects, Mayor of London’s Design Advocate

This free event will make us reimagine how we live. It will demonstrate the power of a collective of people united to address one of our biggest urban challenges today – housing.

The City of Sydney’s Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge attracted international recognition with over 230 submissions. A panel of experts shortlisted 7 proposals from Australia and around the world.  The models ranged from financing, design, building, ownership and management, and are expected to provide the City of Sydney with lessons for future projects.

The shortlisted teams are:

• The Rightsize Service – Dr Alysia Bennett, Lecturer in Architecture, Monash University and Dr Damian Madigan, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, University of South Australia
• Sydney Smart Home – Joe Colistra and Nilou Vakil, Principal Architects, in situ Design
• Metropolitan Land Trust Policy – Dr Louise Crabtree, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University and Jason Twill, Director, Urban Apostles.
• The Third Way – Alexis Kalagas, Urban Strategy Designer, ETH Zurich. Andy Fergus, Urban Designer, City of Melbourne and Katherine Sundermann, Associate Director, MGS Architects.
• Pixel Pilot – Anita Panov and Andrew Scott, Directors, Panovscott Architects and Alexander Symes, Founder, ASA
• Equity Housing Model – Eddie Ma and Linseen Lee, Founders, Vigilanti
• Pop-Up Shelters – Robert Pradolin, Founding Board Member, Housing All Australians

It’s an evening that will make us reimagine how we live. It will demonstrate the power of a collective of people united to address one of our biggest urban challenges today – housing. As we look to the future, we welcome you to the Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge.