The Form Density Takes
A city begins where people live. The shape of a home sets the rhythm of a block; the feel of a street defines how neighbors meet. We design housing that welcomes movement and connection, creating places for community. When architecture, urban design, and planning put people first, streets come alive. When neighborhoods are walkable, people meet, linger, and feel a sense of belonging.
Our vision for housing is taking shape in Soundview, The Bronx, where Stevenson Square, a former Mitchell-Lama campus once cut off from the city grid, is being transformed into a walkable community. The first phase replaces parking lots with tree-lined streets, townhomes, and mid-rise apartments that open onto new parks and plazas and introduces 175 affordable homes, including senior housing and first-time homeownership opportunities.
Projects like The Peninsula, once the site of a juvenile detention center, demonstrate how affordable housing can be a catalyst for inclusive economic growth and increased equity, going beyond a standalone typology to bring neighborhoods together. By integrating light industry, childcare, health, and open space into a residential framework, the project advances a new model for mixed-use living that connects people to opportunity and anchors the community in place.
Momentum is also building on the policy side. WXY is part of the team leading the city’s new ADU For You program, a public resource that helps homeowners add Ancillary Dwelling Units, also known as Accessory Dwelling Units, to their properties, paving the way, by many estimates, for 20,000 new homes. WXY is creating the identity and web platform for the program and is working with the City to create a library of ADU designs that have been pre-approved by the NYC Department of Buildings (NYC DOB) which provides an address lookup tool for homeowners to check eligibility and designs. This work is in collaboration with the NYC Office of the Mayor , NYC DOB, NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development , Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County , and KM Associates.
We've also been focused on how to bring housing into industrial zones by leading the urban design and engagement for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Vision Plan and reimagining 122 acres of working waterfront into a mixed-use hub with 6,000 new homes, including 2,400 permanently affordable units, alongside 28 acres of public open space and 275,000 square feet of industrial space.
Together with the One LIC Neighborhood Plan, which charts a framework for growth, equity, and updated zoning for over 14,000 new homes in Long Island City with more than 4,000 permanently income-restricted and affordable, these projects illustrate how thoughtful design and community engagement can unlock new models for how industry and residents can coexist in New York City.
As cities grow, the form density takes matters. Claire Weisz, FAIA. Hon. FRAIC, Hon. ASLA, and Jacob Dugopolski’s contribution to Vital City’s recent feature, “The Form Density Takes”, underscores how housing design and policy need to look beyond the tower in the park to other typologies that have proven successful in the past or in cities outside of the United States.
Ideas for designing and financing affordability, inclusion, and environmental performance shaped the conversations at the Columbia GSAPP MSRED Conference. Adam Lubinsky, AICP, PhD, chaired the event, and Weisz spoke with industry leaders to share WXY’s approach to development grounded in community and sustainability.
Our work is also being recognized and shared more broadly: WXY was recently honored with an International Downtown Association (IDA) Award for excellence in urban design. Founding Principal Claire Weisz continues to expand the conversation about regenerative design as the Strauch Visiting Critic on Sustainable Design at Cornell, while our Climate Week NYC panel on resilient infrastructure gathered WXY leaders to discuss how housing, mobility, and climate action align. Beyond New York, WXY’s housing and sustainability ethos is also shaping projects like Linden Green, where a community-driven plan for affordable homes and green infrastructure is moving forward in Columbus, Ohio.
Cities are never finished. They're works in progress, constantly rewritten through housing, policy, and collective will. By advancing projects that integrate equity, ecology, and economic opportunity, WXY is working toward a future where housing and development are at the heart of equitable, flourishing cities.