Neeraj Bhatia wins 2024 ASCA Architectural Education and Architectural League Emerging Awards

Neeraj along with colleague Antje Steinmuller was recognized by the ASCA in the Creative Achivement category which recognizes a specific creative achievement in teaching, design, scholarship, research, or service that advances architectural education, for their project Making Space for Community – Learning from Collective Living as a Basis for Designing Policy.

Making Space for Community analyzes over forty contemporary collective living projects, revealing how these often invisible domestic typologies leverage space, resources, and labor to shape meaningful social groups. The case studies are analyzed through three lenses (i) Hardware, or physical spatial arrangements (ii) Software, or mechanisms of sharing; and (iii) Orgware, which includes governance and labor protocols. This shaped a whitepaper report that guided new Group Housing legislation in San Francisco — ensuring shared spaces that foster community. This unique approach foregrounds the agency of architects in mediating between the lived experience of communities and institutional protocols. Because San Francisco’s planning policy has often served as a model for other municipalities, this work provides a template for how more diverse voices can inform policy.

Each year, ACSA honors architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service. Award winners inspire and challenge students, contribute to the profession’s knowledge base, and extend their work beyond the borders of academy into practice and the public sector.

View the full list of award recipients and learn more about Making Space for Community – Learning from Collective Living as a Basis for Designing Policy on the ASCA Awards Page.