The taxonomy of vacancy will focus on seven commercial strips that align with VIA Metropolitan Transit's 2040 Long Range Plan for BRT and LRT. Image: Ian Caine
The research team will create a taxonomy of vacant or underutilized parcels, establishing parameters related to size, cost, zoning, location, and use. Image: Ian Caine, J. William Arch, Melanie Bartholomew, Devon Duffin, Phuoc Luu, Diana Rodriguez, Evey Santillan, Michelyn Smith
A University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) research team has been honored with the SOM Foundation’s 2023 Research Prize for its proposal titled "A Taxonomy of Vacancy: Are Underutilized Commercial Strips the Answer to San Antonio’s Housing Shortage?"
Led by Ian Caine, the team consists of Wei Zhai and Esteban López Ochoa from the UTSA School of Architecture + Planning, Rudy Niño, Jr. from the City of San Antonio, and Christine Quattro from Appalachian State University. The project explores how vacant or underused commercial parcels can be reimagined as multifamily housing. With a $40,000 grant from the SOM Foundation and additional support from the City of San Antonio, the team will combine data analysis and design thinking to develop innovative policies and typologies to address San Antonio’s housing crisis. This research coincides with broader efforts to accommodate a projected influx of over one million people into Bexar County, underscoring the urgency and relevance of the work.
This year’s jury included Iker Gil, Executive Director, SOM Foundation, Chicago; Carlos Bedoya, Cofounder, PRODUCTORA and Founding partner, LIGA, Space for Architecture, Mexico City; Johanna Hurme, Cofounder, 5468796 Architecture, Winnipeg; Lorcan O’Herlihy, Founding Principal and Creative Director, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects [LOHA], Los Angeles and Detroit; and Irene Sunwoo, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.