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Shape Your Shelter: Homeless Shelter Design Built Studio

About the event

Amidst the development of our big cities towards making better educational, residential, and social spaces, there is a lack of recognition for those who are unable to keep up with the fast pace of capitalistic life. Acknowledging the fact that a lot of people are left behind in this competition ruled by consumerist values, Washington State University, Third-year students led by professor Mona Ghandi at their Homeless Shelter Designed Build Studio in the Spring 2017 got engaged in social issues and explored design solutions for improving the community and society.

There are approximately 1,185 homeless people living in Spokane and about 170 homeless families, most of which are suffering from the extreme consequences of poverty. Third-year students led by professor Mona Ghandi at their Homeless Shelter Designed Build Studio in the Spring 2017 at Washington State University, designed an affordable, portable, flexible, self-stand, compact and efficient shelter for homeless, using computational design and emergent technologies. By using the potentials embedded in emergent technologies, computational design, digital fabrication and materials behavior, students fabricated a shelter that can better serve the homeless population and bring them back their dignity. This shelter not only provides the safe place for homeless and accommodates their basic needs, but it can also make an environment to play, and most importantly, it can function as a business incubator or pop-up shop. Giving a homeless person the ability to become financially independent can lead to their recovery. We are working with the city of Spokane for continuing this idea as a long-term plan through a Pilot Program.