"In April 1998, sixteen teams of architects were invited to design single-family houses for the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation in Houston, Texas. The architects took on the mission of developing high-quality affordable housing, producing designs that were innovative not only aesthetically, but also in terms of financing and production. 16 Houses documents their proposals in striking renderings and photographs, offering a unique way of looking at affordable housing both locally and nationally. Most important, it provides a new model for collaboration between academic and community organizations, developers, and government agencies that may well be the future of low-income housing in the United States."--BOOK JACKET.