Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Homeless architecture'

While architecture, a physical built art form, markets itself as a public endeavor, access divides along societal and economical status. Urban planning of city layouts mimic and deep these divides, falling prey to the ideology that one must afford spaces, beauty, and comfort. Those who fall short of societal standards must be designed away as to not inconvenience the desired user. Washington DC does not even deem shelter a human right. The homeless, who population is higher there than anywhere else in the United States, are simply neglected. The Embed Projects aims to recognize their needs. Exploring the conditions and attributes that led them there, the every day struggles faced, the community centers focus on overall support through many facets. Breaking down hostile architecture, the failures of homeless architecture solutions typically offered, and the systemic design to keep individuals from escaping homelessness, and exploring the lifestyle sustainability offered through permanent housing. This thesis offers a city wide, communal plan to provide flexible, permanent housing to individuals suffering from homelessness and a full network of support for every homeless individual. It aims to address not only the housing but the societal measures that led to it, and difficulties of within this community.<br>Master of Architecture<br>Historically architecture was designed to be for everyone but never has been. Money and class have always played too large of a role. Housing, design, and the over network of cities should never be restricted. This thesis navigates the start of network throughout Washington DC that would help the overwhelming issue of homelessness there. Public housing would be offered in a variety of sizes and locations with the hope of a growth throughout the city. Embed provides not only housing but also a network to support them. It looks into the reasoning for individuals to fall into homelessness and who is most vulnerable, the issues faced by those who are suffering from it, and the roadblocks society has set up against escaping it. The design of the two community centers dives into these issues and roadblocks, attempting to offer possible solutions.

This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.<br>Thesis: M. Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2019<br>Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-151).<br>In this thesis, a building is designed on a New York City-owned vacant lot in Harlem to serve homeless LGBTQ youth. The City of New York maintains the condition of vacancy scattered throughout the five boroughs where, The Department of Housing Preservation and Development owns over 1,300 empty lots. While these spaces may be viewed as real estate opportunities, approximately a quarter of them are undesirable for development due to their small, Old Law size (25' x 112'). Further, an examination of the history of these lots should resist a reductive response to simply build market-rate housing. The vacancies are the result of strategic disinvestment through redlining practices. Historically, this has disproportionately impacted low-wealth communities of color. Today, these urban voids maintain the memory of displacement and destruction among these communities. Undesirable to their families, thousands of LGBTQ youth find themselves living on the streets. While seven percent of youth identify as LGBTQ in New York City, this minority community makes up over forty percent of the homeless youth population. One response to this crisis by the queer community-specifically within house-ball subculture-is the creation of "houses" where chosen families are formed. In these social structures, "mothers" and "fathers" serve as guardians for their "children," taking care of them through the myriad challenges faced by youth who identify along the gender and sexuality spectra. This organization is paired with contemporary practices in youth homeless shelters to rethink supportive services and housing for homeless youth. Building Against Vacancy imagines an architecture that transforms undesirable lots into viable, vibrant spaces for non-dominant forms of culture, expression, and living.<br>by Joseph Michael Swerdlin.<br>M. Arch.<br>M.Arch. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture

There are preconceived notions that human beings and built environments have a defined life-span. Both the homeless population and the abandoned infrastructure of cities are seen as existent until their place in society has been tapered, suspended or given up on completely. Once the individual or building reaches a point of societal condemnation it is neglected and eventually forgotten, slipped into the archives of non-existence. What once was an element of a functioning whole becomes a void that is commonly overlooked. Many forgotten people within the homeless population and buildings within abandoned infrastructure have an immense amount of potential energy that may be utilized to further their existence as a function of society. At a human level the homeless person flows through the social construct with little more acknowledgement than a shrug of the shoulder and a minor donation. In the built environment resources sit stagnant amongst constantly advancing infrastructure. In both circumstances the subject is left to exist as a non-participating part of a society that does not acknowledge their presence and lacks the mutual interaction that makes the vagrant or abandoned infrastructure an integral part of the social system. The Re-Institute program identifies contributing factors of social exclusion at both human and infrastructural levels. These factors will be counteracted by reversing the primary concepts of social exclusion into a catalyst to solve the issue. The mechanisms used to combat the problems of social exclusion will exist in a sociological, environmental and programmatic realm within the Re-Institute project. Through the architectural and programmatic development of the program, these mechanisms will re-institute neglected resources back into a constructive part of society.

Modern homelessness is one of the most pressing social and political problems of our time. Several hundred thousand people experience homelessness in the United States each year, and the U.S. Department of Housing, which attempts to count those people, has admitted that their statistics are conservative estimates at best. A recent archaeological study (Zimmerman et al 2010) examining material culture associated with homeless communities in Indianapolis has suggested that those who are considered chronically homeless have generally abandoned wage labor and are instead pursuing urban foraging as a subsistence strategy. In order to better understand the structures of homeless communities, I have expanded this archaeological and ethnographic form of inquiry and used it to present evidence of material culture and foraging patterns among the urban homeless near Tampa. I used participant mapping to obtain 20 individual maps that show each informant’s catchment area, and I performed surface survey of material culture found at camp sites in a four-square-mile area. I found that individuals tend to make homes wherever they are and that much of the material culture reflects what could realistically be expected in any house or apartment. I also found that individuals utilize many resources across the landscape to obtain food, water, clothing, and shelter but must simultaneously remain invisible. This shows that homeless individuals are economic outcasts who must survive outside of yet are still quite dependent on society. Ultimately, this research shows how anthropology can be used to advance a scientific understanding of a specific set of economic processes and how these affect people.

Rapid re-housing of the homeless into permanent supportive housing has proven to be cost effective. The improved quality of life and stability reduces stress on the formerly homeless and therefore increases their viability as self-sufficient individuals. Hillsborough County (which encompasses Tampa, Florida) reported 9,532 homeless persons on any given night in the year 2007. Currently, there is not enough housing to meet the needs of every individual. While existing housing facilities contribute a great deal to this community, their locations in dilapidated urban conditions are not the most conducive environments for homeless persons to succeed. The stigma associated with the homeless also dissuades the general public from interacting with them as equals. The researcher has designed a model which utilizes a historic site, an innovative program, and a flexible design as equal components in the facilitation of transitioning the homeless into self-sufficient individuals. The site is a vacant Tampa Cigar Factory which embodies a history of community building that metaphorically represents the rebuilding of homeless individuals within a greater community. The program consists of a combination of leasable commercial space, supportive retail, permanent supportive housing, and ample communal space that provides for self-sufficiency at an organizational level, onsite employment opportunities, and social interaction. The intervention with the factory is a flexible design that combines utilitarian and communal space to encourage maximum activity, and provides 18 unique units which residents can identify with as their own. A connective tissue contained within the secure confines of the heavy brick walls manifests the transition that the homeless must face, but in a secure, stable, and positive environment. The result is a gestalt which is comprised of many schematic design concepts aimed at empowering the homeless individual to succeed while simultaneously reducing the general public's fear of the homeless. The concepts from this thesis could be applied in any city to help decrease homelessness. The design of many of these spaces, both interior and exterior can be employed in neighborhood planning for any population. This thesis represents the beginning of a new model for permanent supportive housing.

Orientador: Leandro Silva Medrano<br>Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo<br>Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T22:50:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Feres_GiovanaSavietto_M.pdf: 5975964 bytes, checksum: 8d015d8abc61ee734a45d465fe684ffa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014<br>Resumo: O planeta tem enfrentado atualmente fenômenos naturais diversos e de consequências catastróficas os quais afetaram cerca de 250 milhões de pessoas por ano segundo o Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster (CRED) da Universidade de Louvain, Bélgica. Conforme balanço desse mesmo centro em fevereiro de 2010, o Brasil foi o 6º país no mundo em 2009 a enfrentar o maior número de desastres naturais. Apesar disso, o mapeamento das áreas de risco e a elaboração de planos preventivos e mitigadores aos desastres, tais como o planejamento prévio de ações e provisão adequada de moradias emergenciais e temporárias, não são frequentes em todo o país. Nesse sentido, os acampamentos emergenciais resultantes bem como as unidades de abrigo utilizadas ainda mostram-se precários frente às reais necessidades dos desabrigados, os quais podem permanecer até alguns anos em alojamentos inadequados e sub-humanos. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar as contribuições teóricas e metodológicas existentes no campo das habitações emergenciais e temporárias e identificar determinantes fundamentais que possam orientar inicialmente o desenvolvimento de novos e adequados projetos no Brasil e no mundo. De forma geral, o objetivo é o aporte teórico no campo da arquitetura e urbanismo para a habitação durante o pós-desastre. A metodologia utilizada baseia-se na análise de publicações especializadas para obtenção de um conjunto de orientações a partir do qual se avaliará alguns exemplos contemporâneos de abrigos e sua adequabilidade perante os variados contextos<br>Abstract: The planet is currently facing many natural phenomena and their catastrophic consequences which have affected about 250 million people per year according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster (CRED) at the University of Louvain, Belgium. According to an evaluation of the same center in February 2010, Brazil was the 6th country in the world to face the greater number of natural disasters in 2009. Nevertheless, the mapping of risk areas and the development of preventive and mitigating plans on disasters, such as planning of actions in advance and adequate provision of emergency and temporary housing, are not frequent throughout the country. Likewise, the resulting emergency camps and the shelter used still seem precarious regarding the real needs of the refugees, who can stay up to a few years in inadequate and sub-human shelters. The objective of this paper is to analyze the existing theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of emergency and temporary housing, and to identify key determinants that may initially guide the development of new and appropriate design in Brazil and worldwide. In a general manner, the goal is the theoretical contribution in the field of architecture and urban planning for post-disaster housing. The methodology is based on the analysis of specialized publications to obtain a set of guidelines from which will be evaluated few contemporary examples of shelters and their suitability on varied contexts<br>Mestrado<br>Arquitetura, Tecnologia e Cidade<br>Mestra em Arquitetura, Tecnologia e Cidade

Almost 40.000 Greeks became homeless the past 8 years due to the economic crisis. But there is still hope! This project reflects on how architecture can lead to a more humane society using democratic methods and a city’s urban strengths. It explores how volunteers, the State and the Private Sector can collaborate through competitions and win-win agreements in order to gradually transform an abandoned commercial center and landmark, MINION, into a qualitative pilot housing project with socialization space for hundreds of homeless people. This could finally lead to the revitalization of the decaying Athenian environment through a number of stages. The project has a dual purpose and the idea is very simple. On one hand the project needs to include stores and other commercial spaces that reflect the old Athenian character in order to attract the interest of the higher financial layers of Greece and invest their capital. On the other hand the State will use this capital in order to provide qualitative housing to people in need. MINION is actually turns from a ‘commercial machine’ that used to be, into a ‘social machine’. All these actions will be completed with the collaboration of the tenants of the building.<br>Nästan 40 000 greker har blivit hemlösa de senaste 8 åren på grund av den ekonomiska krisen. Men det finns fortfarande hopp! Detta projekt reflekterar över hur arkitektur kan leda till ett mänskligare samhälle med hjälp av demokratiska metoder och en stads urbana styrkor. Det utforskar hur volontärer, staten och den privata sektorn kan samarbeta genom tävlingar och win-win avtal genom att gradvis omvandla ett övergivet kommersiellt centrum och landmärke, MINION, till ett kvalitativt pilotbostadsprojekt med socialiseringsplats för hundratals hemlösa. Detta skulle slutligen leda till en vitalisering av den förfallande atenska miljön genom ett antal steg. Projektet har ett dubbelt syfte och tanken är mycket enkel. Å ena sidan måste projektet omfatta butiker och andra kommersiella utrymmen som återspeglar den gamla atenska karaktären för att locka de högre ekonomiska lagren i Grekland att investera sitt kapital. Å andra sidan kommer staten att använda detta kapital för att ge kvalitativa bostäder till människor i nöd. MINION förändras från en ’kommersiell maskin’ till en ’social maskin’. Alla dessa åtgärder kommer att utföras i samarbete med alla bostadsprojektets invånare.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura, apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa, com a especialização em Interiores e Reabilitação do Edificado para obtenção de grau de Mestre.<br>N/A

This thesis is an attempt to improve the economic problems of the homeless people, either scrappers or squatters living in abject poverty, in the shrinking city of Flint by trying to balance the social problems of the city. This balance in the social life will not be real unless there is a kind of resilience architecture that is able to adjust and be adjusted to that degradation in the social and economic conditions in the shrinking cities. The resilience architecture, from which the self built spirit may spur, may be the only way to give the poor their lost dignity.The specific research deals with the problem of shrinkage in the Rust Belt cities in the USA and the means of its improvement by readopting three terms: evolution, resilience, and alchemy from a social perspective. Suggesting a resilient architecture design project in the particular city of Flint, Michigan relies on the large number of the homeless people living in these devastated places.Shrinking cities, living a state of flux all time, are much more insecure and weighty. The potential profound role of the architecture profession to work with the poor societies, and assist them in the execution of their spiritual needs, relies upon some of the key questions: could architects be a reason in building a resistant community? What kind of architecture do we collectively want to combat the degradation of the world? The key question is: Will architecture able to activate this self built spirit, by reusing some of the leftover materials, in Flint? In this context, I will investigate the architects' ability to intervene by providing an implementation proposal designed to use the city materials. This intervention of the architect will be effective when the potentials of those homeless are empowered. Therefore, I suggest an initial idea for a particular design proposal titled `Scrap and Build; On Our Own Village' that could be used as a catalyst for self builders' spirit. The project is seeking a resilient new vision for the future of shrinking cities, which necessitates surpassing the barriers which exist in the real complexities in these cities' lives.<br>Department of Architecture

The aim of this design thesis is to search for an architectural syntax, a harmonious arrangement of parts or elements, that can be nurtured to realize a particular work of architecture; a transitional institution for the homeless. The facility, to be located in the urban context of Georgetown in Washington, D.C., is to include housing along with support program functions comprising a center for the homeless community.<br>Master of Architecture

A existência de pessoas que moram nas ruas é um fenômeno global complexo que envolve, entre outros, aspectos econômicos, sociais, políticos, psicológicos e urbanísticos. Este trabalho busca contribuir para o entendimento desse fenômeno ao analisá-lo sob a perspectiva da cidade de São Paulo. O morar na rua, suas origens, diversidade, transformações e sua consolidação como integrante do ambiente construído são elementos ainda pouco estudados, e que o presente trabalho busca contemplar. O que distingue esta pesquisa das outras feitas sobre o tema, é que o objeto de estudo é a cidade , ou seja, o morar na rua na cidade, e não o morador de rua, o indivíduo. Na medida em que o foco do trabalho é o espaço urbano, a metrópole, e que o morar na rua é uma realidade que não se pode ignorar, é papel de arquitetos e urbanistas incorporar estes cidadãos em seus projetos urbanos. O fato aparente é que as respostas que têm sido dadas ao problema - no caso de São Paulo, os albergues e casas de convivência - parecem insuficientes tanto para a compreensão quanto para resolução desse problema. Desse modo, o presente estudo tem o intuito de analisar o morar na rua em São Paulo a partir da compreensão do perfil dessa população, de suas demandas e formas de organização, discutindo as respostas dadas e as propostas urbanísticas existentes que a contemplem. A caracterização iniciou-se por uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o significado e a condição do morar na rua, e os diversos grupos que compõe esta população. Analisou-se então os diferentes tipos de equipamentos ofertados, as soluções existentes e a sua pertinência ao perfil de população encontrado. A análise da população dita \"em situação de rua\" mostra, primeiramente, que há pessoas que desejam sair dessa condição ou seja, para quem a situação de estar na rua é circunstancial, e outras que continuam a habitar as ruas como morada, por escolha própria. O segundo aspecto mostra que as respostas que têm sido dada para o primeiro grupo - albergues e casas de convivência - tem sido consideradas insatisfatórias. Já para o segundo grupo elas são inexistentes, pois esta hipótese não tem sido considerada. De qualquer forma mesmo que a questão do morar na rua seja transitória para um dado indivíduo, outros aparecerão, ou seja, há um contingente permanente de pessoas que habita os espaço público e para o qual se espera uma resposta, que o projeto urbano não tem dado conta. Para parte dessa população, a resposta é a oferta de meios que proporcionem sua saída das ruas. No entanto, o grande desafio diz respeito ao grupo que opta por viver nas ruas. Para o este, a cidade teria que assumir sua existência no território urbano e, mais que isso, aceitar o seu direito à cidade como inerente à cidadania plena. Para a formulação de propostas inovadoras faz-se necessário conhecer a fundo a população para a qual se está projetando valendo-nos de conceitos contemporâneos que vão além do campo da arquitetura e do urbanismo.<br>The occurrence of city homeleness is a widespread phenomenon throughout the whole world and involves economical, social, political, psychological and urbanistic aspects. Present work intends at contributing to the understanding of this process which is analyzed here from the view point of the city of São Paulo. Street dwelling in São Paulo has several components that need reappraisal such as its origins, diversity, changes along time and consolidation as part of the urban morphology. However, present work differs from previous ones dealing with the subject for its emphasis on the role of living the city itself rather than on the people that live in the city streets, the homeless. It is the architects and city planners\' task the need to consider these citizens as inherent to the urban space, to the metropolis, that cannot at all be ignored. The solutions that have been proposed for this problem in regard with the city of São Paulo, namely, shelters and conviviality houses seemingly are not efficacious to solve the problem. Thus, present study intends to analyze the street living attitude accounting for the basic needs of this population through discussions of the urbanistic proposal to deal with it. Accordingly, the first task was to analyze the profile of the people that belong to this population, how appropriate is it to label them as street dwellers or homeless and simultaneously to understand how the city itself interacts with them. We have learned that there are street dwellers willing to get rid of their condition, in other words, people for whom street dwelling is a transient process. Solutions offered them either as shelters and conviviality houses have so far been deemed unsatisfactory. And there are those that go on living in the streets by their own choice, namely, permanently. Besides, even if transient street living conditions was temporary for someone there will always be new adherents joining the street environment. Urbanistic solutions for this group are scarce, not effective and based on the Idea that with very few exceptions street dwellers are willing to give up their living conditions. For some of them proper solutions is offering all means to help them get off the streets, but the real challenge concerns those that definitely chose to remain on the streets. In this case, the city must accept their existence, their own right to the city, namely, to full citizenship. Innovative proposals require a careful appraisal of the population we aim at favoring and need contemporary concepts that go beyond the common current practices in the fields of architecture and urbanism.

A study of form and composition in the work of artists and the connection of art to architecture resulted in the conclusion that formal concerns alone cannot create an expressive architecture. The forms and their interactive relationships require an overall intention that will inform the nature of the forms and the program. This intention is based upon meeting the diverse needs of individuals. The critical elements required for a unified expression of ideas in the creation of architecture are a concern for the diverse needs of individuals, the composition and interaction of form and space, and the interpretation of the program with regard to diversity and flexibility to reflect the needs of the individual. Each of these three concerns and their interaction with each other and in combination with the physical elements of architecture (light, color, texture) can together form a methodology for architecture.

The historic connection between homelessness and severe economic depression has disappeared as a shortage of affordable decent housing prevails even during periods of strong economic growth. New factors such as the reduction of low skill careers in manufacturing in favour of higher paid higher skilled positions are causing an increasing gap between the highest and lowest earning populations in Canada. Furthermore, shifting taxation rates have reduced the federal government’s ability to provide funding for affordable housing. As a result, current market based solutions are failing to meet the diverse housing needs of our communities, leaving some homeless and many others at imminent risk. Policy plays a large role in finding a solution to this crisis; however the means of applying any solution is intrinsically an architectural issue. This thesis examines the state of homelessness in the city of Toronto and proposes a new and inclusive urban housing typology to better meet the city’s housing needs. The thesis is structured by three forms of inquiry: Firstly, an analysis of homelessness in Canada is used to identify the historic causes of homelessness. As well, the principle obstacles faced by key demographics are highlighted. Secondly, the thesis investigates existing responses to homelessness to identify the difference between reactionary responses and a more effective integrated city making approach. Finally, the lessons learned from earlier research are applied through the design of an inclusive housing typology, which, through a city making strategy, blends together residential, cultural, and commercial programming. The goal of this design proposal is to foster a richer urban community, which better serves the needs of the entire city.

Master of Landscape Architecture<br>Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning<br>Mary C. Kingery-Page<br>Chester I. Lewis Reflection Square Park is an urban park located on Douglas Avenue within the downtown area of Wichita, Kansas. The Chester I. Lewis Park is a site the city is interested in improving, but no current plans or budget are available. The park has faced issues including a stigma regarding use by the homeless population, vandalism, lack of use by the broader public, and deterioration. Chester I. Lewis was a civil rights lawyer in Wichita, Kansas. One of his cases dealt with the Dockum Drugstore Sit-in, the first successful sit-in of the civil rights movement, which will soon have a new sculpture memorial dedicated a block away from the park. The overall project goal for the downtown park commemorating Lewis’s legacy is to develop a site that will address the current issues with the park and create a connection with the newly developed memorial, all while strengthening the expression of Lewis’s significance as a civil rights leader who championed social integration. The project should develop a sense of place within the community and connect visitors to Wichita’s legacy in the civil rights movement. Methods used by the researcher to build a framework for design consist of archival research into the history of civil rights in Wichita, precedent studies focused on memorials and designing for the homeless, participant observation, a public exhibit with community feedback, and lastly interviews with advocates for the homeless, and living members of the Sit-In. The proposed design for Chester I. Lewis Park demonstrates that it is possible to provide a variety of uses within the park that benefit everyone, including unhoused people who use the park. This site can provide a new outlook for designing inclusively and seeking to remove the stigma that faces the homeless population in Wichita and provide a replicable example of how cities should plan for the homeless in park design.

Within the context of a rapidly urbanizing population, both globally and nationally, this dissertation investigates how street living strategies can assist in conceptualizing a nurturing inner city environment. Responding to the dearth of implementable social policies in South Africa, this research sets out to explore methods for architects to enhance the life opportunities and choices of pavement dwellers by incorporating their livelihoods and aspirations in the design of the built environment. The research was carried out by way of reviewing existing literature on the subject, relevant case studies and precedent studies. The theories and literature discussed guide the focus of this dissertation highlighting the importance of taking people's needs, interests, livelihood strategies and their circumstances into account. The discussion illustrates how the inner city environment, underpinned by theoretical analysis of Theory of Living, Complexity Theory and Critical Regionalism, can be nurturing to life. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to gather social and architectural data, outlining the interaction between street living strategies and the built environment, illustrating how an inner city can cater to the needs and well being (positive orientation) of the community, or in other cases, fail to do so. This will be further understood through an examination of the pavement dwellers' complex and difficult life in the Durban CBD, and how this creatively assists the design of a nurturing multipurpose dream centre, as a solution to the needs of street living and a conceptualization of a nurturing inner city environment. The outcome is the conceptualization of an inner city environment from which a set of principles and guidelines are established to inform the design of a new multipurpose dream centre in the inner city - the Durban CBD. A dream centre is possible because of the ability of "The architect [to] confront human needs and desires [and] mould the environment closer to the human dream" (Mumford, 1938: 403).<br>Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This thesis focuses on the ways in which Janet Morton’s installations explore geographic and architectural spatial arrangements, and the ways in which these arrangements reproduce hierarchies of gender, race, and class. As cultural geographers and architectural historians have argued, and as I argue in the context of Morton’s work, architecture and geography exist in a reciprocal relationship with the social context in which they exist. Consequently, social histories that amass in politicized spaces referred to as “home,” such as gendered suburban houses, urban shelters, segregated neighbourhoods, are often marginalized. By discussing the way Morton’s work alludes to marginalized social and spatial histories within home environments, I demonstrate the ways that mainstream understanding of the subordination of marginalized groups is informed by sociospatial histories.<br>Thesis (Master, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2007-08-07 15:32:00.667

Unhome: Objects of Vulnerability, references simple structures and ad hoc processes that come out of the human need for shelter. Proceeding from the need for physical protection from hostile environments, various techniques and technologies - inventions engendered by need - have been employed to clarify formal and conceptual concerns about housing. The provisional architectures represented have been constructed - as in vernacular architecture - by employing materials that are readily available or that come easily to hand. Rather than using conventional construction techniques and durable materials, however, the structures were erected by way of sewing, weaving, textiles, and recycled materials. The resultant objects remain vulnerable and fragile in potentially dangerous circumstances.

In Durban as well as many other cities around the world one can find the phenomenon of street children. Studies have highlighted various factors such as historical, political, social and economic, which have contributed to the formation of this phenomenon. The aim of this project is to analyse these factors in an attempt to understand the underlying issues and circumstances that lead to the phenomenon of street children. In conjunction with this, one needs to study existing examples of architectural solutions both local and abroad in order to identify the fundamental requirements that a design of this nature would need to include. It is also important that one analyse the local context as it may hold region specific needs that may not be evident from studies of foreign examples. This project seeks to identify the specific methods of rehabilitation and development, in order to create a successful architectural solution. In order to achieve this, one needs to recognise the specific design needs of children in an attempt to create a more conducive environment for rehabilitation.<br>Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

This dissertation is based on research undertaken on the role of the housing group savings schemes that provide end-user finance to the poor households to address their housing needs with special reference to South African Homeless People's Federation (SAHPF) at Piesang River outside Durban. The housing conditions inherited by the new Government in South Africa were characterized by backlog. In order for the Government to address housing shortage, housing subsidy assistance was introduced, which only provided the 'starter house', which was not sufficient enough for the poor in terms of size and quality of the house. It was hoped that the traditional financial institutions would come to the party and provide small-scale loans to the poor to incrementally improve the condition of their housing. The poor households have been seen as "unbankable". Basically the study bids to explore and establish the effectiveness of the savings schemes as an intervention in making end-user finance available to the poor households in S.A. to meet their shelter needs. The study revolves wholly around the group housing savings clubs as an intervention for proving housing for the poor. Practice has proved that incremental upgrading of a core unit using incremental finance is more suitable than long-term loans and does not bind the poor into long-term financial agreements. Given the fact that the poor are not willing to subject themselves into long-term financial commitments, consequently, the poor households have initiated financial self-help groups of the likes of ROSCAs, Stokvels, RCAs and ASCRAs as a mechanism to deal with the predicament that they are facing. The study explores the circumstances under which these saving schemes have evolved and the cause of their proliferation, looking at the international and local experiences. The study draws successful lessons from SAHPF of Piesang River about group lending and the possible expansion of its activities to other parts of S.A. Lending groups have the potential to provide affordable credit to the poor and the group members will use peer pressure to encourage repayment. Group lending is capable of making an individual repay that would have easily defaulted under individual lending. The researcher uses the combination of sample survey and case study to argue that the success of SAHPF particularly in making end-user finance available to its members is due to its strong, central focus on savings and loans. Finally the recommendations are that savings for housing purposes should be seen as an appropriate mechanism, to augment the housing subsidy given the fact that formal end-user finance is not forth coming especially to the poor as anticipated.<br>Thesis (Arch.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.