Transitions

Providence, RI

RISD - Urban Design Studio

Fall 2021

In collaboration with Ben Roland

This project focuses on the creation of systemic support for excluded populations such as people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. This community has been neglected and overlooked by systems created via industrialization, capitalism, and colonization. The proposed housing redefines the notion of a healthy city by creating access to housing, fresh food, and general wellness. This framework interrogates the intersection between access to varying need-based housing types and important community resources.

Our project strategy regarding healthy living and rehabilitation is broken down into three categories:

Housing: starting from shelter, which provides immediate support, moving into transitional housing with more privacy, but still a considerable amount of resources, and then permanent housing - a private living unit for two families.

Rehabilitation: these resources are open to all members of the community and are conveniently located in the shelter and transitional housing where support is needed most.

Health: a site-wide intervention that prioritises the means needed for healthy living such as, increased pedestrian movement, accessible green space, nutritious food on-site in the produce shop, supplied from the community garden, and the addition of sunrooms which encourage bringing greenery into social and living space.

The shelter, in orange, provides immediate support to the displaced The transitional housing, in blue, is centered around a community garden that is accessible to all residents. Open Permanent housing, in green, is intentionally less connected to the resources, blending in with displaced homeless community and serves as the resource hub. Open terraces located on the interior of the complex lead into the shared greenspace with direct access from all units. with the existing multi-family home urban fabric to combat the stigmatization of its residents.

Transitional Housing

Transitional housing is a step designed to help people experiencing homelessness to transition from housing instability to permanent housing. It functions as apartment units for individuals, couples or whole families, supplemented with communal spaces, such as a big community garden as the center of the housing complex for growing food or community kitchens where people can learcn to cook from each other. The apartments are divided into two types:

Unit B is designed for a family and has compact amenities that are supplemented by larger shared resources. As every unit, it also has shared balcony spaces that lead into the garden.

Unit C is designed for one to two people and relies more on the shared social and household resources than bigger units. The shared outdoor space makes up 1/3 of the unit to foster the connection to the neighboring unit and the garden as a part of our health initiative.

On the Left:

Views of the transitional housing buildings’ open terraces facing the community garden, park and playground.

Next Page:

Plans of the transitional housing block and section through the communal theatre spaces, communal kitchen and lounge, as well as dwelling units.

Permanent Housing

Unit D is a permanent housing dwelling for two families. While it is the most private housing type out of three, it still has a shared sunroom, and rotating walls in the living room which provide opportunity for social interaction. The house structure serves as a transition from the highly unban closed-off street edge in the front to the green backyard through the sunroom as a buffer between the inside and the outside, bringing the greenery indoors.

Topt:

View of one of the permanent housing duplexes from the backyard looking at the shared sunroom.

Bottom:

View of a dining room looking into the backyard and the shared sunroom. The space is divided by operable wooden «fins» that could be adjusted to block or welcome the sun, divide or open up the space.

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