The Invisible City

San Francisco’s housing market is one the most expensive in the country. The overpriced living conditions have partly contributed to the rising problem of homelessness. The thesis proposes a new low-cost housing system that reduces the construction costs per square foot well under the currently lowest in the city. At the same time, the project aims to provide architectural qualities often not found in such projects. The thesis radically reevaluates how housing is currently built. Construction costs are significantly reduced by prefabricating a modular base unit that can be flexibly linked to create one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. In addition, the project focuses on transitional housing, allowing homeless individuals to return to a more permanent accommodation successfully.

The thesis aims to create a community enabling people affected by homelessness to recover and heal while regaining their autonomy. The modular system of housing units is paired with common support areas, such as a counseling center, vocational-, and primary education facilities. The open circulation areas are efficient but generous enough to allow for community gatherings and encounters among the neighbors. A large courtyard provides a shared garden for the community. The project offers chronically homeless individuals with transitional housing and accessibility to resources, a counseling center, and therapy areas with case managers, to reach a permanent housing system. The primary education center allows individuals to learn life skills and create a source of income. This system of transitional re-rapid housing will enable individuals to regain their independence.

The high-density, low-cost project offers a much more economical solution than standard building methods to maximize the limited resources for creating housing units for an underserved population.