Integrated Shelter Units

Abstract

Shelter is a basic human need, yet in many large cities, access to shelter is dependent primarily on the ability to afford it and public spaces are mostly confined to streets, sidewalks and parks, creating a vulnerable and “unsheltered” state for those working in and moving through cities. At the heart of architecture is the need to shelter, and its practice has developed out of an anthropological relationship between nature and man’s ingenuity in creating a more comfortable environment. Thus, when cities transgress the natural need for shelter, architecture must also transgress its limits and reconsider the way it engages with the public realm. This thesis proposes the reclamation of public shelter by inserting Integrated Shelter Units (ISUs) into the commercial ground floors of selected buildings, in order to offer privacy and repose in the public realm. Through the design of the architecture and an app-based operations service, the ISU aims to offer temporary, accessible, equitable, and safe shelter across the urban landscape. In so doing, ISUs will enhance the social experience of the street and support persons in various states of vulnerability, ranging from needing a place to work, to changing a baby's diaper, to taking a shower, or getting some rest.