Architect Amanda Loper Shares 9 Ways to Make Housing for People
President Gordon Martin and Rotarian Cheryl Morgan with Amanda Loper
This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed Amanda Loper, David Baker Architects Principal, who shared "9 Ways to Make Housing for People."
Loper provided an overview of the firm and its guiding principles. She shared the factors that have led to housing challenges, with nearly half of renters overburdened by cost of living. She shared a range of calls to action targeted to reduce barriers to affordable housing, providing examples of solutions that helped alleviate San Francisco’s housing crisis and how those lessons may be applied in other cities across the nation. She highlighted ways to encourage the construction of communities that enhance residents' quality of life from art to play to green spaces and common areas.
“Often housing is designed based on spreadsheets, it’s often treated as a commodity. It doesn’t have to be that way,” Loper said. “Buildings should be reflective of place. They shouldn’t be boring or homogenous because that’s not who we are as people.”
Bio for Amanda Loper
Amanda Loper AIA, LEED AP, is Principal at David Baker Architects. A key member of DBA since 2006, Amanda leads the southeastern office in Birmingham, Alabama, which she established in 2016. Her work integrates architecture and urban design so that each project is a “small but mighty act of urbanism.”
Since the completion of her Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Interior Architecture at Auburn University, Amanda has contributed significantly to solving San Francisco’s affordable housing crisis. She adapts these solutions to help other cities across the country address their own affordable housing crises and enhance livability. A strong “architecture communicator,” Amanda also shares her experiences, innovations, and philosophy widely with designers, students, developers, and the public through lectures and writing. She received a 2021 AIA Young Architects Award, a national honor that recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their careers.
Loper is one of the coauthors of DBA's forthcoming book 9 Ways to Make Housing for People, which showcases our guiding design principles for creating homes and communities that both support a high quality of living for residents and contribute positively to the public realm. A deep dive into a pragmatic framework, the book explores these compassionate and effective strategies illustrated by our deep portfolio and offers accessible guidance on integrating the ideas into your own design work. The book expands on an article the firm’s principals published in Urban Land magazine and later contributed to an exhibit on socially responsible design at the Cooper Hewitt, By the People: Designing a Better America.
Key Projects:
901 Fairfax Avenue | San Francisco, CA | 2018
Potrero 1010 | San Francisco, CA | 2016
9 Ways to Make Housing for People | ORO Editions | Fall 2022
Union Brick | Nashville, TN | In Design
Residential Density Bonus Study | San Francisco, CA | 2015
Pepper Place | Birmingham, AL | 2020