American studio Johnsen Schmaling Architects has completed an urban infill project near downtown Sacramento that consists of six modest-sized homes with multi-coloured facades.
The Oak Park Housing complex was built on a long-vacant property in Oak Park, a diverse neighbourhood that struggled for decades with economic stagnation and disinvestment.

The area also experienced social unrest. In 1969, riots broke out in Oak Park following a police raid of an office for the Black Panther Party. The event left "lasting scars on the city's social and physical landscape", according to Johnsen Schmaling Architects ? a studio based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Like many urban districts in America, Oak Park has been undergoing transformation in recent years. Young professionals, artists and students have migrated to the neighbourhood ? and art galleries, coffee shops and small businesses have been taking over abandoned storefronts. The Oak Park Housing complex is one of the area's first residential developments in nearly 50 years, according to the architects.
"Accordingly, the project is more than just a contemporary addition to the existing housing stock," the firm said in a project description. "It is a harbinger of urban revitalisation, its architecture cheerfully embracing the creative and buoyant energy that has propelled the ongoing renaissance of this vibrant and culturally diverse community."

Built on a rectangular lot, the development consists of...