Typically, an affordable housing project is produced by a single developer, with one client, one architect, and one construction company. One architectural style often predominates, stifling the diversity and heterogeneity inherent in vibrant community life.

This sense of homogeneity is further exacerbated by conventional funding structures such as construction loans and subsidies that prevent creative collaborations across multiple architectural firms and developers. Can we envision projects that support diverse collaborative models and economies of labor involving architects, developers, government and communities? How can we take advantage of efficient, "ready-made" construction systems while supporting diverse design sensibilities?

This building is only as strong as the social network that works together to realize it. The critical interface in this process is therefore the community-based organization. These local experts provide the infrastructure for community change, and have the opportunity to bring diverse constituencies to the table to enact a community vision. It is this infrastructure of organizational and interpersonal collaboration makes change sustainable. The community organization can also be instrumental in managing and developing a local economy of construction. They can do this through two types of co-existing labor processes: on the one hand, the specialized construction industry that builds the main structural and infrastructural envelope, and, on the other hand, local labor that can enrich the project by addressing less restrictive construction needs. This approach creates a double economy of construction that can guarantee the social and economic viability and sustainability of the community.