Wes Hiatt believes architects can use their design expertise to help inspire and manage much-needed urban change. This belief was inspired by his training. Since before coming to Lehigh, Hiatt questioned, as part of his research, how the revival of historic housing types could help resolve contemporary housing shortages. His University of Cambridge dissertation examined how architects in 1860s London helped navigate the city’s runaway change that accompanied rapid industrialization. 

The assistant professor brought the philosophy of architect-as-change-agent with him when he came to Lehigh in 2021 to join the art, architecture and design department. As he settled in at the university, he began meeting with members of the Bethlehem community. A question emerged: How could the city provide more housing options for residents? Like many cities, there was an increasing demand for affordable housing and a scarcity of available dwellings. People with incomes below $50,000 were completely priced out of the market. Proposals for high-rise apartments clashed with the city’s historic structures.

“I began by acknowledging that the housing crisis in Bethlehem is a complex challenge, and there are people already working on these issues that know a whole lot more than I do. I had to start conversations and really listen to these people to begin to frame the problem,” Hiatt recalls. “If we need housing in Bethlehem, but there is a kind of general resistance to denser, five-story-plus apartment buildings that are unaffordable, what is another way to think about this that relates to the history of Bethlehem?”

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