Block by Block: Decoding New American Dreams of Housing

Across North America and here in Cincinnati, zoning and building code reforms are galvanizing efforts to build more housing. But how can these policy changes also recenter a collective conversation around imaginative housing design?

Organized by De Peter Yi, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Cincinnati DAAP and director of Rebuild Collective, Block by Block is an exhibition that explores the design potential of accessory dwelling units, upzoning, lot splitting, single stair exits, and mass timber construction in housing. Such changes to zoning and building code allow us to not only reimagine the design of buildings on individual lots, but also the relationships between buildings within a larger block.

By positing housing as simultaneously inward-looking and outward-facing, the exhibition offers new models for residential architecture that broadens the longstanding American Dream of the single-family dwelling into more diverse examples of desirable, attainable, and adaptable housing. A series of large-scale physical models invite visitors to “inhabit” the proposed designs and interact with the underlying codes and logics that inform their design. The models demonstrate how housing design and zoning and building codes can shape each other toward spatial, social, and environmental benefits.

The exhibition is offered alongside a series of public workshops on reimagining zoning at Cincinnati Public Library neighborhood branches across the city.

Public Opening Reception: Tuesday, December 9, 5:30 p.m–7:00 p.m.

Block by Block Exhibition Closing and Panel Discussion on Affordable Infill Housing

Event Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
Event Time: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Location: GBBN, 332 E 8th St, Cincinnati
No RSVP needed to attend this event

How might gentle-density infill housing bridge the past, present, and future of Cincinnati’s neighborhood fabrics?

Cincinnati’s neighborhoods contain many examples of gentle-density housing types: multi-unit residential buildings that coexist alongside single-family homes. Yet, due to restrictive zoning laws dating back to the 1960s, few of these housing types have been built recently. Change appears to be coming. In 2024, the city passed Connected Communities, a sweeping zoning reform that legalizes duplex, triplex, and fourplex construction along transportation corridors and business districts. In 2025, the city was awarded a PRO Housing grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement affordable prototypes of gentle-density housing as “proof of concept” designs.

This panel discussion will bring together diverse perspectives from Cincinnati’s architecture, design, planning, and development professionals on the future potential of gentle-density infill housing in the city. Speakers include:

• Roy Hackworth Housing Development Division Manager, City of Cincinnati Department of Community & Economic Development
• Philip Denning Executive Vice President, The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority
• John Stoughton Owner, Team B Architecture & Design
• Chad Burke Principal and Director of Mixed-Use, GBBN Architects
• Graham Kalbli Principal, New Republic Architecture
• De Peter Yi Founder, Rebuild Collective and Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Cincinnati DAAP
• Ed Mitchell Director, School of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Cincinnati DAAP (Discussion Moderator)

The panel discussion will accompany the closing event of Block by Block, an exhibition on the intersection of code reform and imaginative housing design organized by De Peter Yi, Assistant Professor of Architecture at University of Cincinnati DAAP. Visitors will be able to view the exhibition before and after the discussion. All are welcome to attend.

Exhibition Credit

Exhibition Organization, Research, and Design: De Peter Yi, Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Cincinnati Director, Rebuild Collective.

Project Team: Zakaria Essakalli, Sammi Klassen, James Gibbs.

Research and Exhibition Partners: Cincinnati Port, GBBN Architects, Simpson Collective for Urban Futures, Cincinnati Public Library.

University of Cincinnati DAAP School of Architecture and Interior Design Students Contributing to Exhibition: Jack Allison, Anna Burger, Alfred Carducci, Zakaria Essakalli, Kiryce Fitzgerald, Sammi Klassen, Ryan May, Paul Minnick, Pace Perry, Austin Shenk, Kate Stump, Caroline Theetge, Gabriel Willard, Ella Youtsey, Kenny Lam.

Support

Funding provided by the SOM Foundation’s 2023 Research Prize, with additional support from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) Simpson Collective for Urban Futures.