Homelessness: A critical approach to architecture and planning

Abstract

In the fall of 2016, Professor Ralph Johnson of the School of Architecture at Montana State University was approached by Connie Campbell-Pearson, a Deacon of the St. James Episcopal Church and homeless advocate. Deacon Campbell-Pearson asked what Professor Johnson knew about tiny homes and if they could be utilized to house the homeless. This raised two interrelated questions: What do we know about tiny homes and what is known regarding issues associated with housing the homeless? The answer to the first question is that the vast majority of information available regarding tiny homes is anecdotal and without rigorous critique. On the other hand significant academic research has been published regarding the social, medical and economic conditions associated with housing the homeless. In response to the question “could tiny homes be used to house the homeless?”, students in a sequence of Community Design Studios researched the social, cultural and economic conditions associated with homelessness and designed, tested and constructed a prototype micro-shelter based on Heidegger's concept of “dwelling”. Construction of the first of four prototypes “micro-dwellings”, intended for a Housing First Community to be developed by the Gallatin Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), was completed in the spring of 2018.