Opening Reception: December 6, 2025 at 6:00PM

Exhibition Runs from December 5, 2025 – January 9, 2026

Designing Research | Reimagining Housing

cityLAB is UCLA’s interdisciplinary hub for design-driven urban research. Although housed within UCLA’s Architecture and Urban Design Department, cityLAB’s impact extends beyond Los Angeles. cityLAB is unique as it represents both an academic think tank and a practical “do”-tank. Comprised of architects, designers, planners, and humanists, cityLAB works within four primary researchareas: Reimagining Housing, Framing the Commons, Marking Narratives, and Radical Pedagogies.

The projects in this exhibition represent four of cityLAB’s most significant Reimagining Housing projects to date – Accessory Dwelling Units; Education Workforce Housing; Small Lots, Big Impacts; and Altadena Prefab Showcase. While each of the four housing projects is are unique, all four projects have each followed a similar research process from early think tank evaluation to “do”-tank production. cityLAB’s process begins with Research and Outreach, before moving to Accessible Documentation, Prototyping, Impactful Legislation, Capacity Building, and Built Demonstration. This process is what defines cityLAB’s work, and it allows the lab to have catalytic impacts that open up new possibilities for the field of architecture to create more just urban futures.

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