Finding home : making a place for the homeless in the urban landscape

Abstract

Is homelessness a problem? What if you considered homelessness to be a state, rather than a problem, and provided for it accordingly in the urban landscape? As roads and water and sewer lines are one type of infrastructure, a diverse mix of dwelling types is another kind of infrastructure - the infrastructure in which we live. This thesis looks at the way the homeless have sheltered themselves in the past, and comes to several conclusions about how they might be sheltered in the future such that homelessness becomes a natural part of the urban landscape. Through this process of changing societal attitudes through the design of physical space, homelessness loses its label of "problem" and becomes more accepted as a way of life.