Housing Design-a-Thon: UCSD Design Lab x NewSchool

Join the Housing Design-a-thon, a two-week collaborative charrette where UC San Diego Design Lab and NewSchool of Architecture and Design students will co-create innovative co-living housing concepts that address affordability and social isolation in high-cost markets like San Diego.

This design-a-thon brings together students, industry experts, policy thought leaders, and community members to develop solutions that are spatially thoughtful, socially vibrant, and financially innovative. Teams will work across multiple design dimensions: spatial, social, and financial. You'll explore integrated approaches to complex urban challenges.

With generous support from the Samuel H. French and Katherine Weaver French Fund

Over two weeks, you’ll work alongside students from different disciplines to tackle a real-world housing challenge. With guidance from faculty, industry experts, and community voices, you’ll move quickly from research and sensemaking to ideation, prototyping, and refinement.

You’ll get hands-on experience testing ideas, receiving real-time feedback, and working through the messy parts of the design process. Along the way, you’ll consider the needs of different stakeholders and explore new approaches to housing that challenge conventional models.

The goal? To develop ideas that are not only innovative, but also economically resilient, socially meaningful, and capable of scaling.

Two-week collaborative design-a-thon + final pitch

Information Session
Design and Innovation Building, Room 208

• Friday, October 2 | 4:00–5:30 PM

Design-a-thon Sessions
NewSchool of Architecture & Design, Downtown San Diego

• Monday, October 5 | 5:00–8:00 PM
• Wednesday, October 7 | 5:00–8:00 PM
• Monday, October 12 | 5:00–8:00 PM
• Wednesday, October 14 | 5:00–8:00 PM

Pitch & Awards
Design and Innovation Building, Room 208

• Monday, October 19 | 4:00–6:00 PM

You don’t need to be an architect or designer to participate. We’re looking for students who are curious, collaborative, and excited to work across disciplines.

• UCSD students from any discipline
• Designers, planners, researchers, builders, and creative problem-solvers
• Students interested in housing, cities, architecture, community development, entrepreneurship, or design

You’ll join a team of 4–5 students, bringing together NewSchool architecture students and UCSD collaborators from different disciplines.

We’re forming 10–15 teams (approximately 50–75 students total), so space is limited. You’ll work closely with your team throughout the two-week challenge and present your final concept to a panel of judges.

You won’t be doing it alone. Industry experts, community advocates, faculty facilitators, and subject-matter specialists will join throughout the charrette to provide feedback and help you push your ideas further.

You’ll also hear from guest speakers through flash talks and panels introducing new perspectives, emerging models, and real-world approaches to the housing challenge.

By the end of the design-a-thon, you’ll have:

• Research findings and insights
• Spatial prototypes and design concepts
• A solution poster communicating your team’s idea
• A 3-minute final pitch to a panel of judges
• The opportunity for selected concepts to continue into NewSchool’s Q1 studio and UCSD coursework

Come with a willingness to experiment. Leave with a real project, new collaborators, and experience tackling a complex problem from multiple perspectives.

Event venue & nearby stays

NewSchool of Architecture & Design, 600 B Street, San Diego, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

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