Homelessness is a layered issue, not only limited to social justice, but also impacting architectural and urban planning concerns. Treated as an identity rather than a temporary condition, many cities fail to address the complex variety of external factors which contribute to homelessness. The result often being budget-driven shelters congregated in already resource deficient, low income areas. The misconception that homelessness only happens in a city's poorest areas is rooted in prejudice and functions to only further prevent the same types of developments seen in more desirable neighborhoods. With a specific socioeconomic climate and disparity in Orlando, Florida, Parramore presents itself as an opportune place to provide a central downtown sanctuary that additionally will provide greater access to necessary services for the adjacent neighborhoods. A study of queer theory and ergonomics were an integral part of the design process. The former primarily concerned with the development of queer spaces from illicit "underground" safe havens of refuge built out of a necessity to exist freely in space (a precursor to present-day DIY culture) to now transparent, integrated queer spaces existing almost indifferently to the naked eye. The emergent idea being that together, the community campus is intended as an accessible series of places, rather than a singularly defined one / Master of Architecture / Homelessness is a social issue which affects everyone. There is a long history of intolerance towards the homeless which is evidenced by discriminatory policies that prevent the homeless from existing in the public and/or stress a homeless individual's ability to access the necessary services needed to escape homelessness. Current housing assistance for the homeless are often limited by inconsistent access to services (e.g. healthcare, counseling, job assistance, etc.), traditional living arrangements, availability, accessibility, and budget-driven designs. Additionally, the social stigma around homelessness is counterproductive to a critically vulnerable group of people's recovery and re-assimilation into society. Supporting the development and design exploration of services such as permanent supportive housing is beneficial because it is a model focused on embedding users into the community through thoughtful and holistic design. (i.e. a housing assistance service which places chronically homeless individuals into market-rate apartments or similar residential dwelling; usually centrally located and/or connected to necessary services). Another important aspect of this thesis is exploring non-traditional sites for such projects as it is equally as important for city's to reassess the opportunity to renew areas lost to discriminatory planning. This thesis references various ideas, philosophies, and design strategies borrowed from similar vulnerable groups to establish connections and create a roadmap for how the architectural intervention will be developed for the specific user group and site context. It is my hope that this optimistic reimagining of lost spaces as sites for supportive housing and community can help redefine what and who homelessness is and shed light on how services could like moving forward into the future.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/104102 |
| Date | 06 July 2021 |
| Creators | Perez, Eliezer Omar |
| Contributors | Architecture, Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., Archer, Scott Brandon, Feuerstein, Marcia F. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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