Michael is an architect, and and founder of Larch Lab in Seattle. His formative work experience was in Germany, where he learned how out of step American codes and practices are from the rest of the world. He has inspired a movement across the US and Canada to find alternatives to the double-loaded corridor, including the Center for Building.

He lives in an accessory dwelling unit with his family in Seattle. While he appreciates the abundant natural light and ventilation, he is looking forward to the day when the city embraces proper, family-friendly point access block apartments – ideally mass timber ones built to passive house standards.

Julia is a political scientist and journalist, who served as editor of Mayor Koch’s Commission on the Year 2000, assistant commissioner for Policy and Planning at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, senior fellow at several think tanks, and too many other roles to count.

She lives in a courtyard building on Manhattan’s West Side, which would be illegal to build today for more reasons than Julia’s had jobs. She enjoys light on multiple sides, cross-ventilated windows, and a perfectly serviceable elevator that, during a building-wide renovation, was replaced, as mandated by the Department of Buildings.

Ben is the executive director of The 2030 Project, a Cornell University initiative to accelerate climate solutions. He was previously director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, under Mayor Bill de Blasio.

He lives with his family in a second-story apartment in Brooklyn, which has both north- and south-facing light, thanks to its single-stair floor plan.