RAPID: COVID-19, Remote Ethnography, and the Rural Alaskan Housing Crisis

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This RAPID award supports the real-time study of the impacts of COVID-19 on housing insecurity and off-site residential modular construction design in rural Alaska. Preliminary research conducted by the PI team demonstrates that COVID-19 has already changed how builders and architects work with rural Alaska communities to design, construct and install off-site modular construction projects. The PIs propose to document and analyze how new models of virtual consultation and collaboration are being deployed, what roles resilience and innovation play in the development of new building practices, and how new building solutions affect family and community structure. This award lays the foundation for subsequent research on how transformations in housing construction intersect with broader concerns over limited rural infrastructure in Alaska. The PI team will conduct remote interviews and participatory workshops with stakeholders to document the effects of the pandemic on off-site residential modular construction practices. The proposed work draws upon five months of preliminary research and existing partnerships with builders, architects and engineers working on cold climate housing. RAPID funding will enable the PIs to observe the initial stages of project design and development, tracking logistical strategies and solutions employed by builders working with remote rural communities. Initial focus will be on two off-site modular building projects: elder pods in Unalakleet and a women’s shelter in Allakaket. Broader impacts include greater responsiveness of builders to expressed needs of rural and Indigenous residents in cold climates and support for the development of more culturally appropriate and sustainable housing in Alaska.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.