ICON, Austin-based 3D-printing construction company, is calling on you to design its next housing project, but there's a catch: it has to be built for $99,000 or less.

Called Initiative 99, registration for the contest will open to all architects — including students, firms, and individuals — this summer. The year-long competition has several phases, potential for multiple winning designs, and $1 million in prize money on the line.

CEO Jason Ballard said he hopes this concept shifts the idea of affordable housing. | Photo by ICON

This isn't ICON's first foray into the affordable housing sphere — in 2019, ICON gifted a batch of homes in Nacajuca, Mexico to families living in poverty. A little closer to home, ICON has been working on building homes for Community First! Village since 2020.

ICON CEO Jason Ballard said the rubric will include taking "beauty, aesthetics, comfort, sustainability, and resiliency" into account. Once designs are in, a panel of architectural practitioners — including several Austinites — will weigh in.

Learn more and get designing.