IA+D Faculty Jill Pable Presents Design Resources for Homelessness
Atrium of the New Carver Apartments, Los Angeles. Skid Row Housing Trust. Michael Maltzan Architecture. Subject of a Design Resources for Homelessness case study.
FSU Interior Architecture and Design faculty Jill Pable presents Design Resources for Homelessness, an online knowledge solution.
More than 500,000 Americans are homeless during any given night of the year. In the last two years alone, several U.S. cities have declared a crisis of emergency in providing housing for this population.
Interior designers, architects and others care deeply about this issue, and support countless building and research projects each year that can assist persons that are homeless. However, 50% of practitioners and 84% of design researchers engaged in this area describe it is difficult to find helpful programming and similar information to make informed design decisions for these unique environments*.
The new online initiative Design Resources for Homelessness created by Jill Pable, seeks to fill this need, offering designers research-informed insights that identify the perceptions and needs of persons in crisis, and provide practical design ideas that can deliver heightened comfort and satisfaction without necessarily increasing costs. Design Resources for Homelessness content is provided without charge and is made possible by grants and donations.
Design Resources for Homelessness brings curated, research-informed insights to designers from fields including environmental psychology, social work and neuroscience, enabling practitioners and researchers to take practical action armed with a more comprehensive understanding of the design task at hand. In the future, it will facilitate and share the results of new design research that will move understanding and dialogue further.
Among its featured content:
- Case studies of innovative and effective permanent supportive housing projects and emergency and transitional shelter facilities from across the United States with floor plans, on-site photographs, and interviews of staff, designers and residents
- Spotlight reports identifying the needs of distinctive populations experiencing homelessness such as victims of domestic violence and families
- A comprehensive overview explaining what is currently known from research about designing supportive environments, with an extensive bibliography
- Databases of built projects enabling precedent study site visits
- Lists of interior designers and architects engaged in this building sector
- Great Ideas that describe small, cost-efficient environmental features designers can include that make a difference for persons in crisis
Design Resources for Homelessness is made possible by the ASID Foundation’s Irene Winifred Eno Grant. Its content was developed with the funding support of the Council on Research and Creativity at Florida State University.
Well-designed environments hold great potential to lend comfort in crisis. Design Resources for Homelessness exists so that designers can collectively leverage the power of place, assisting disadvantaged persons to a brighter future.
To listen to the entire broadcast click here.
