Graduation Year

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.Arch.

Degree Granting Department

Architecture and Community Design

Major Professor

Stanley Russell, M.Arch.

Keywords

Rapid re-housing, Homeless, Tampa, Architecture, Public Housing

Abstract

The problem of homelessness is an issue in every city of America. Increasingly there are more individuals and families that find themselves without a permanent residence due to varying factors. Traditionally, the approach to this crisis has been to shuffle from emergency shelters to transitional shelters towards temporary housing. However, this lengthy, regulated process prohibits a large portion of the homeless population from ever settling back into housing. It is also merely a stop gap for the issue and this process absorbs a large sum of resources in land, money and manpower. However, there is a new model emerging to solve this issue. The idea is to address housing first and follow up with services/counseling afterward. "RE-Homing" is an exploration of how architecture can be used as a tool to facilitate such a housing first initiative that will not only make a place, but create a place of identity, a home they can sustain, for these individuals. This idea of reintroducing the essence of home can make a housing first initiative viable and can prolong the assistance available for this population. Conventionally, once at capacity, a housing first site becomes a supportive apartment building. However, through combining the scattered site theory of housing first with the main facility idea, a single program can assist more individuals and continue the purpose once at capacity on site.

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