The Assignment

Image: www.edar.org
Portable Homeless Shelter Team Project
The University of Nebraska Lincoln
Visual Literacy
Speculative Drawing Sec 965
Instructor: Anne Burton

Objective: Teams will build one-person homeless shelters from recycled materials found in and around campus.

Teams will consist of four to five students and will be selected by the instructor. Each team will create one full-scale prototype of their one-person portable homeless shelter. Teams have two weeks to complete their full-scale shelter.

Students may spend no more than $50 on their project. New materials can be purchased but the structures must consist of some recycled materials.

The shelter must be unobtrusive, collapsible and portable. (The shelter must fit into a shopping cart or roll on wheels.)

The shelter must protect its inhabitant from the elements, provide warmth in winter and ventilation in the summer.

Individual Presentation: Before teams decide on their final designs, each student in the class will create an individual solution and present their idea to the team. These individual presentations will include schematic drawings and research into materials and pricing.

Sturdy Watertight Wind-Resistant Collapsible Portable Affordable Weather Time Safety Health Family Solution Education Understanding

The main cause of homelessness in America is poverty. There are roughly 1600 homeless people living in Lincoln. Many of Lincoln’s homeless are women with small children.
In a study of homeless in the Midwest by the US Department of Health and Human Services, single men comprise 44 percent of the homeless, single women 13 percent, families with children 36 percent, and unaccompanied minors seven percent.
United States Homeless Statistics from the LAHSC
* 3.5 million people (1.35 million of which are children) will experience homelessness in a given year.
* Children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population. 42% of these are under the age of 5.
* 43% of the homeless population are women; 40% of these women are unaccompanied. 22% of homeless women claim domestic abuse as reason for homelessness. 25% of these claim to have been abused within the past year.
* Families with children comprise 33% of the homeless population.
* Vets constitute 40% of the homeless population.
* 1 in every 5 homeless persons has a severe or persistent mental illness.
* 25% of the homeless nationwide are employed.


This assignment was inspired by a project designed by Professor Jan Wampler and lecturer Alan Joslin at MIT School of Architecture and a project named Everyone Deserves a Roof developed by movie producer Peter Samuelson at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles - EDAR.