Houston finds itself at a historic crossroads after Harvey, with broad consensus that the city must change the way it plans and builds for the future. Houston 2020 Visions is a year-long, open call for visions seeking creative and innovative ideas for how to rebuild a better city, one that protects the health and wellbeing of people, grows sustainably, and supports a strong economy. Overall, the goal is to place design and sustainability at the heart of conversations about planning for a more resilient future. The program seeks expansive, creative visions of resilience, ranging from infrastructure projects to policy recommendations, from flood warning systems to resilient housing design. Visions could consist of projects that are currently in progress or recently completed, or purely speculative proposals to encourage creative thinking.

The resulting responses will be juried and curated into an exhibit, which will be mounted at Architecture Center Houston in the spring of 2020, along with the release of a corresponding publication.

The project is a collaboration between AIA Houston and Houston City Council Member David W. Robinson, FAIA, working with a steering committee consisting of member architects, city officials, local universities and representatives from partner organizations such as the Rice Design Alliance and the Kinder Institute.

During the yearlong call for visions, AIA Houston will host a series of lectures, panel discussions and public meetings to generate a dialogue of education and information gathering between design professionals and community members.

This program is supported by a grant from AIA National, with the hope that chapters in other cities will follow this blueprint and engage their communities in an open, inclusive dialogue about urban resilience.

If you would like to be notified with more information about Houston 2020 Visions as that becomes available, please sign up to receive updates here.