AIANY Housing Committee Launches New Book ‘Dual Cities – Social Housing in London + New York’

The AIA New York Housing Committee is celebrating the completion of several years of collaboration with RIBA and the London-based firm Karakusevic Carson Architects to launch the new book Dual Cities - Social Housing in London + New York (RIBA Publishing, 2025). Co-chaired by Brian Loughlin, AIA, APA, Principal, Magnusson Architecture and Planning, and Nicole Vlado, AIA, NOMA, the committee selected a series of best-in-class social and affordable housing case studies in New York City that offer a thoughtful model for the future, if the city's upcoming administration decides to take heed. At the time time, Dual Cities considers how we might learn from housing models across the pond, featuring a corresponding roster of projects in London selected by Karakusevic Carson Architects. As both cities grapple with ongoing housing crises, fueled by escalating prices, aging stock and a scarcity of genuinely affordable homes, they are united by the pressing need to develop long-term housing solutions and address social equity.

Co-edited and authored by Paul Karakusevic and Mike Althorpe, Dual Cities offers a practical guide to the past, present, and future of housing through essays and commentary from experts on both sides of the Atlantic, seeking to demystify current policy, delivery mechanisms, and ways of working. The volume's 40 illustrated historic and contemporary case studies showcase best practice in parallel, demonstrating how the cities have learned from each other and providing valuable lessons in creating more resilient cities through improved housing.

"The century-old American tradition of looking to European cities for social housing exemplars dates back to Catherine Bauer's seminal text 'Modern Housing.' Too often, differences rather than similarities are emphasized and 'We could never do that here' is frequently the takeaway," Loughlin says. "What makes Dual Cities a unique addition to this discourse is the broad lens through which a relative context is established, recognizing not only the different shapes that housing takes, but the various populations it serves, and the many disciplines required to produce it with quality. This depth of comparison is meant to make the lessons to be learned from each city's approaches to social housing easier to identify, affecting a far richer set of takeaways."

The book includes projects by AIA New York members and from the following firms: Karakusevic Carson Architects, Adam Khan Architects, Alexander Gorlin Architects, Al-Jawad Pike, Archio, Bernheimer Architects, COOKFOX Architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Dattner Architects, ESKW/Architects, FXCollaborative, Mæ Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP), Mary Duggan Architects, Peterson Rich Office (PRO), Redtop Architects, Stephen Taylor Architects, Witherford Watson Mann Architects and WXY.

"For many years we have shared observations and frustrations about the current state of social housing and felt the need for a greater trans-Atlantic dialogue," shares Paul Karakusevic, Founding Partner, Karakusevic Carson Architects. "This book offers a platform for that; to observe, analyze, and understand two urban cultures in tandem through projects, testimony and research brought together for the first time. It's a critical time for social housing and we hope it will be of vital use to architects, planners, advocates and campaigners in both London and New York."

Susanne Schindler of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies noted, "A book that does what few do: span the divide between an architectural view of housing, which delights in to-scale, well-drawn plans of historic and contemporary buildings, and a policy-maker's view, often trained on unit counts and required subsidies. In its side-by-side analysis of London and New York City, Dual Cities provides a solid, well-designed, and at once sobering and inspiring reference on what it takes to design, develop, and maintain affordable housing in two of the world's most expensive cities."

Dual Cities - Social Housing in London + New York is available to buy now from RIBA Bookshop online. Official launch events will be announced this summer in both London and New York.