Foreclosed: Architecture Center Reimagines Suburbia After Housing Crisis

Columbia faculty talk about the Foreclosed exhibit and the mission of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture , founded in 1982, has never shied away from examining important social issues. So after the housing bubble collapsed in 2007, leading to millions of home foreclosures across the U.S., the center's director, Reinhold Martin , saw an opportunity to look at how America's housing stock could move beyond the suburban, single-family home that dominates the "American dream" but presents real-life economic and environmental problems. It seemed like the perfect topic to work on with his Art History and Archaeology colleague Barry Bergdoll , who became chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in 2007 and was encouraging links between the University and the museum. His issues-based architecture exhibitions at MoMA have included Rising Currents , a 2009 show featuring designers' responses to changes in sea level caused by global warming. Together, Bergdoll and Martin transformed the Buell Center's inquiry into Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream , which runs at MoMA through July 30. The centerpiece of the show is a series of proposals for five American suburbs, created over more than a year by architects chosen by Martin and Bergdoll.