In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Studio Libeskind’s Atrium at Sumner project sits on formerly vacant land at the edge of a public housing complex. For the firm’s founder, this project was a personal one: Architect Daniel Libeskind grew up in a historic affordable housing development in the Bronx. “I always associate social and public housing with something fantastic,” he says.
This summer, while most Americans were focused on the big-picture politics of the election, a small but consequential political event transpired in Washington. On the Senate floor, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act—which had passed the House of Representatives with an overwhelming bipartisan majority—was blocked during an August 1 procedural vote. As reported by Politico, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, blamed the failure on “Senate Republicans [who] decided they’d rather wait around and hope Trump wins” than take action now.
The bill’s death, like so many others’, was a quiet one, barely noted in the media. But its repercussions may be very audible. Across the nation, cities and counties struggle to build adequate
