This studio explored architectural solutions to homelessness, and how inclusive design thinking can lead to innovative solutions to this global problem. The semester’s program included research, awareness raising activities, space programming and building design.  

Students worked in two to three person teams and individually to produce:

1. Research on the causes of homelessness and strategies to eliminate it
2. Personas of homeless people to serve as inspiration for programming and design
3. Proposals for a real-world project in Buffalo
4. Proposals for innovative programs and services    
5. Compelling architectural visions   

The major question explored in the studio was: “How can inclusive design contribute to solving problems of temporary and chronic homelessness?”

This studio critiques the reductive character of type thinking in western architecture by producing a culturally-inflected mode of adaptive reuse that materially indexes the complexities of black life in the city of Buffalo. The critical problems of type thinking persist in our stereotypical interpretations of black vernacular culture. Type forms such as the Shotgun house are read as a transparent reflection of the cultural essence of black domestic life despite not being revised by black Americans since the early 1920s. Such static interpretations of blackness fail to consider the complex social forces that have brought it into being, or the external conditions that have held back black life, from the rise of developer culture that replaced the Haitian craftsman in the twentieth century to the imposition of European aesthetic norms by settler colonialism.

In order to move beyond this limited conception of black material culture, students studied the spatial customs and expressive cultures of African American life that have yet to be indexed in architectural form. The content of these social histories, taken from readings in cultural studies, provided the critical basis for modifying the Euro-American housing typologies that developers created for Buffalo’s East Side. How would these models have changed if black Americans had the freedom and capital to modify them to reflect their own cultural norms? What areas of the home might have changed and what new spaces might be introduced that were not essential for white Americans during this same time period? This corrective approach to architectural typology radicalized the practice of adaptive reuse to recover the latent potential of black life that is sadly still hidden today.

Contemporary university environments can be very stressful places, particularly for young adults. Often students encounter social and cultural diversity for the first time when they live on campus. Attitudes and habits of living are learned at this stage of life that can affect health and wellness throughout the lifespan. Foundations are set for life-long learning, nutrition, exercise, socialization and intimacy. But, addressing the needs of a very diverse student body requires creative thinking to optimize the use of existing resources.

This studio explored the idea of mixing different uses in one building to produce a living, working and leisure environment that supports mind-body balance. Principles of inclusive design were applied through the lens of “biophilic design” to demonstrate how synergistic space for residences, creative production, and wellness can create an interesting architecture and enliven a university campus.

This studio explored the redevelopment of a vacant industrial complex into an arts and cultural center. The site, Silo City, is a large complex of grain elevators on the Buffalo River that is currently unoccupied. The goal was to generate ideas and excitement in the community for redevelopment of the site and to provide visualizations of what it could become with public and private investment. Principles of inclusive design were applied to demonstrate how a forbidding industrial relic can be transformed into an appealing international destination for a diverse population. The project included research and analysis, visioning exercises, urban design and building design. 

Habitat for Humanity’s renovation projects have the virtues of countering blight in vulnerable neighborhoods, reducing waste by re-using existing structures, and providing new homes for deserving families. Their new home construction is providing new housing in neighborhoods with large numbers of vacant homes. This was the second semester of a design-build initiative of the School that has produced ideas and information that can, over time, have a wider application. The design projects addressed all factors in the HfH process of development, including organizing financial and human resources, acquisition of properties, demolition, design, and use by occupants. The first design challenge was to design easily executable renovations for three existing homes that meet all minimum standards of the Residential Building Code of New York and HfH guidelines. The second design challenge was to design a new home prototype for HfH Buffalo. The completed drawings are sufficient for code approval by the City.

How can architecture and urbanism contribute to the integration of refugee populations in an unfamiliar culture and promote the formation of authentic multicultural environments? How can we cultivate and maximize the latent potential of resettlement practices to encourage urban rejuvenation? The studio addressed these questions through research and design exploration via long-term rental housing and short-term transitory housing projects.

The students completed three separate tracks of inquiry in the first half of the semester: (1) case studies on supportive housing projects; (2) a holistic documentation of resettlement procedures in the US; and, (3) a multi-faceted analysis of Buffalo’s East Side. The students were asked to develop the exact scope and location of their projects within a 4-square-mile catchment area in East Buffalo, a grossly under-served section of the city. In addition to housing, students were tasked with constructing effective but affordable programmatic mixes in order to facilitate social integration.