After Hernán Díaz Alonso’s introduction, Hina Jamelle discusses how “Under pressure: essays on urban housing” (Routledge, 2021) originated in a 2016 conference at the University of Pennsylvania that brought together leaders in policy, economics, design, and development to find ways for productive conversation. The book features fifteen essays by participants, plus fifteen student design projects that explore related issues. This work is organized into four topics: Learning from history, Changing domesticities, Housing finance and policy, and Design and material innovation.

At 17:44, Marcelo Spina illustrates his contribution to “Under pressure” with a discussion of his “Olympia” mixed-use, high-rise project for downtown L.A. in terms of articulating voids rather than objects.

At 22.47, Jerry Neuman responds that within current political, economic, and social pressures, architects need to take on take on agency, i.e. acting as a representative of different enterprises, articulating their issues, advocating for the project.

At 29:08, Jamelle, Neuman and Spina discuss issues raised by the presentations, including the need for innovation, the increasing complexity of architectural practice, legal barriers, building codes, liability, density, local versus global solutions, and adaptive reuse.