April 2, 2025

 

Zoning Reforms NYC Needs to Build More Affordable Housing

New York City is in the midst of a housing crisis, and zoning laws play a crucial role in shaping how (and where) we build new homes. If the city wants to create more affordable housing, it needs to rethink outdated zoning rules that limit density, drive up construction costs, and make it harder to build where housing is needed most.

Here are the most effective zoning changes NYC can implement to unlock more affordable housing:

1. Upzone in Key Areas

New York needs to allow taller, denser residential buildings, especially near subway stations and high-capacity transit lines. Expanding Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) policies can encourage the construction of more multi-family housing where people already commute. Neighborhoods with good infrastructure should be prioritized for increased height and density allowances.

2. Eliminate Parking Requirements

NYC still requires many new buildings to include a minimum number of parking spaces, even in areas well-served by public transit. This adds unnecessary costs—parking garages can cost $50,000+ per space to build—and takes up space that could be used for more apartments. Removing or reducing these mandates would lower construction costs and make affordable housing projects more feasible.

3. Strengthen Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH)

NYC’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program requires developers to include a certain percentage of affordable units when building in upzoned areas. However, the program could be more ambitious. Increasing the required set-asides for affordable housing while offering developers more flexibility (like increased Floor Area Ratio or tax incentives) would lead to more mixed-income developments citywide.

4. Legalize More Housing Types

NYC’s zoning laws often prevent homeowners from adding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), like basement apartments or backyard cottages. Legalizing ADUs citywide would allow more affordable, small-scale housing options. Additionally, rezoning low-density areas—like parts of Queens and Staten Island—to permit small apartment buildings instead of just single-family homes would significantly boost housing supply.

5. Convert Underutilized Commercial & Industrial Spaces

Many office buildings, hotels, and industrial spaces sit underused or vacant, yet zoning restrictions often prevent them from being converted into housing. Rezoning these areas to allow residential development—especially near transit corridors—could create thousands of new affordable homes.

6. Reform the 12 FAR Cap

New York State law currently limits the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for residential buildings to 12.0, capping how dense housing developments can be. This outdated rule prevents the construction of more high-rise apartment buildings in areas where they make sense. Lifting or modifying this restriction would allow for greater density and more affordable housing units.

7. Streamline the Approval Process

Many housing projects in NYC face years of delays due to a slow and unpredictable approval process. The city should establish more as-of-right zoning rules for affordable housing, allowing projects that meet clear criteria to move forward without lengthy discretionary reviews. Reducing community board veto power over projects that meet affordability goals would also speed up much-needed housing production.

8. Prioritize Affordable Housing on City-Owned Land

NYC owns a large amount of underutilized land, including vacant lots and underdeveloped sites. Prioritizing these properties for 100% affordable housing projects—with long-term affordability guarantees—would be a game-changer. The city could also partner with non-profits and mission-driven developers to ensure that new housing remains accessible to low- and middle-income New Yorkers.

Conclusion

NYC’s housing crisis isn’t going away on its own. The city needs bold zoning reforms to allow more housing—especially affordable housing—where it’s needed most. By updating outdated rules, streamlining approvals, and making better use of available land, NYC can ensure that more people have access to safe, affordable places to live.

The time for action is now. Will the city rise to the challenge?

March 28, 2025

Art of Forgetting

The Art of Forgetting is not simply an act of memory loss, but a profound and intentional process of release. In a world constantly filled with noise, obligations, and distractions, the ability to forget serves as a form of liberation. To forget is not to erase, but to unburden oneself from the weight of past wounds, regrets, and unnecessary attachments. It is a delicate dance between remembrance and release, where one learns to let go of what no longer serves them, creating space for healing, growth, and new experiences.

Forgetting, when done consciously, allows us to preserve our mental and emotional well-being. It is an art of discernment: knowing which memories, thoughts, and emotions to hold on to, and which to let slip away. It does not mean ignoring or dismissing the past, but rather choosing not to let it dominate our present or future. It is about embracing impermanence, understanding that life is fluid, and the moments that once shaped us no longer need to control us.

In the act of forgetting, there is freedom. It is in this space of release that we cultivate resilience, wisdom, and an openness to the present moment. Through the art of forgetting, we learn not only to forgive others, but also to forgive ourselves, allowing for transformation and rebirth. Forgetting becomes an art form in itself—a beautiful, subtle process of shedding, evolving, and living fully in the now.

August 4, 2016

July 18, 2016

SplitSpace by de.Sign | Manufactured Space



An office space that doubles up as an exhibition space/gallery for an art-house & fabrication service provider. The building is designed to incorporate components manufactured in-house by the fabricator including the precast concrete slab/roof, steel structure and canvas concrete screen.

September 22, 2015

Lutyens' Delhi



Decolonizing Delhi, and our GSAPP Studio work featured in an article in Indian Express; Sept. 20, 2015


September 9, 2015

e[X]Sport City | Seoul, 2nd Prize and Shortlisted for Next Stage

Our project, e[X]Sport City has been awarded Second Prize for the International Ideas Competition for Urban Regeneration of the Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul. Our team (de.Sign and Seiyong Kim (Seoul)) is shortlisted for the next stage of the competitionMore soon...
e[X]Sport City | Seoul by de.Sign and Collaborators (de.Sign in collaboration with Seiyong Kim (Seoul).

June 16, 2015

When less is more: Architects are breaking walls to make apartments roomier. From collapsible furniture to sliding doors, architects are breaking walls to make apartments roomier.

Manhattan Loft by de.Sign featured in the EYE Magazine of the Indian Express
 Manhattan Loft by de.Sign | Read More...
Manhattan Loft by de.Sign
Written by Shiny Varghese | New Delhi | Published on:June 14, 2015 1:00 am  READ MORE......



     Manhattan Loft by de.Sign
The industrial monotone theme is taken forward in a Manhattan loft by architect Viren Brahmbhatt, principal architect, de.Sign Studio, which has offices in New York and Mumbai. On the top floor of a six-storey apartment, this almost century-old building overlooks the Hudson river. When Brahmbhatt arrived, he found a two-bedroom corner unit with the conventional layout of a bath and kitchen with a long corridor that connected the rooms. The floor was uneven and saggy. He soon figured out that the building’s bones were in good shape. It could become a charming space with the old sitting hand-in-hand with new aesthetics. After bolstering the ceiling and the floor, existing walls were removed. Brahmbhatt wanted a large fluid space for the graphic designer/advertising professional who lives and works here. “The layout was transformed into what I call FlexSpace, to generate a seamless spatial experience and create a loft-like space,” says the architect.
     Manhattan Loft by de.Sign
He brought in sliding glass walls, and a Murphy bed, which holds a glass enclosed bar. By leaving the walls bare and white and keeping the finishes sparse, he rid the house of visual clutter. Much of the storage is built-in while closet doors with mirrors work to reflect the entire loft and views of the river. “We decided to retain the existing structural wood beams in the ceiling and the stripped brick walls to dramatise and juxtapose the rustic with the modern. The lines of the ceiling beams alter the perception of depth, constantly flattening and elevating the sense of space,” he says. A found object in the house was the dumb waiter, which has now been enclosed in frameless glass, opening up an old, existing skylight that filters in natural light. That the loft can be divided into various spaces when required allows the client to alter its use.

    Manhattan Loft by de.Sign

     Manhattan Loft by de.Sign

May 29, 2015

Leveraging Exchange | de.Sign Update

de.Sign is selected for a project on a 50-Acre site for International Medical Sciences Research & Exchange near Mumbai, India. The program will include adjacent parcels for urban agriculture and productive landscape, redesigning urban lands for the local Agriculture University that will share resources with the new Medical Research campus.
More soon...

March 31, 2015

de.Sign Update | FloatSpace

Check out our recently completed project on our newly designed, revamped and updated website: 

Project Link: FloatSpace

  FloatSpace by de.Sign
http://design-arch.blogspot.com/




March 1, 2015

REIMAGINING LUTYENS' DELHI

REIMAGINING LUTYENS' DELHI
January 2015; Edited by Viren Brahmbhatt et al.
A PUBLICATION BASED ON GSAPP SPRING 2014 STUDIO | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Reimagining Lutyens' Delhi is based on the studies on Lutyens' Plan for Imperial Delhi, by the Urban Design Studio, Spring 2014 (Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design), Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University in The City of New York. 

Abstract
The subject of the Studio was a comparative urban dialogue between New Delhi, Kisumu, and Medellín. Like dynamic cities everywhere, they share concerns about the form of their continuing expansion and the consequent mandates for compact growth. This dialogue is of particular interest given the diversity of character and context of each, within the broad context of development in the "Global South." The New Delhi mandate involves densification of the Lutyens' Plan for the original colonial city, long considered an international landmark in early 20th century urban design. In question is the evolution of this culturally significant and highly formalized hallmark from its ceremonial significance as new Capitol of India to expanded meaning as center of a new commercial metropolis. For each of the three cities, detailed study sites were carefully chosen as particular "fragments" that could serve as windows through which to view the larger question of their respective development modes, and to comparatively explore "saturation" levels of density within the respective urban contexts.

REIMAGINING LUTYENS’ DELHI examines the present day situation of the landmark historic plan for the new capital of India by the British architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), completed in 1931. The original plan has been considerably modified in ad hoc fashion over the past two decades due to real estate pressures related to the large growth of the city and region during this period. Yet much remains of enduring value within the plan such that consideration of preservation measures is crucial, while recognizing that Lutyens’ composition has entered an era of transformation. The four “provocations” presented in the exhibition aspire to address the contradictions between preservation and development. Developed by post-professional students, faculty, and experts at Columbia University in collaboration with local partners in Delhi, each urban design proposal examines a typical condition between the center and periphery of Lutyens’ Delhi. They are the Bungalow Zone; the Janpath; the remnants of Baoli, Hauz, and Nullah; and the adjacent Kidwai Nagar neighborhood. They are proposed with the hope of making a positive contribution to the debate on the future of the past for this world landmark in urban design.  




The exhibition and publication are made possible by the generous support from Steelcase Asia Pacific Holdings, India.

January 2, 2015

REIMAGINING LUTYENS' DELHI : AN EXHIBITION / GSAPP SPRING 2014 STUDIO | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Reimagining Lutyens' Delhi: An Exhibition 
based on the studies on Lutyens' Plan for Imperial Delhi, 
by the Urban Design Studio, Spring 2014 (MSAUD)
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Columbia University in The City of New York
Opening Reception & Panel Discussion
Debating Delhi: A Conversation 
with the faculty members from the Urban Design Program, 
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York; 
SPA Delhi; and distinguished architects, planners and professionals from Delhi 
January 9, 2015- 5.30 PM
Reception
January 9, 2015 - 7.00 PM
Exhibition
January 10, 2015 - January 30, 2015
2.00 PM - 7.00 PMSaturday / Sunday Closed
Venue
Steelcase WorkLife Center Delhi
DLF Cyber City, Tower 9A  Ground Floor
Gurgaon 122002  (Phone: +91 124 3077 200) RSVP Required

January 29, 2013

SNS exō | Upcoming Project by de.Sign


SNS exō, is a riverfront residential building complex designed by New York-based firm, de.Sign Studio LLC.
© de.Sign Studio LLC | New York | Mumbai, 2013. All rights reserved.
Project Website: www.SNS-exo. com
Architect: www.deDotSign.com

January 25, 2013

exō | Riverfront Condominiums | Upcoming Project by de.Sign






















Exō | Riverfront Condominiums | Upcoming Project by de.Sign
All Images: ©2013 Viren Brahmbhatt/de.Sign Studio LLC

December 25, 2012

November 19, 2012

Positions Available


de.Sign [Architecture | Urban Design] is looking for Junior Architects with Rhino knowledge for our Mumbai office located in Bandra West, Mumbai, India. Write or call for details : de.Sign@deDotSign.com / +91 982 000 1891

Junior / Intern Architects:
Professional degree in architecture from an accredited architecture program.
Strong creative skills and technical background with the ability to work in a team environment.
Proficiency in Rhino or Revit Architecture & AutoCAD.
Optional Skills: Demonstrated digital graphic skills (Sketch-Up, Adobe Creative Suite)
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