The debate around tiny homes for the homeless has inserted itself into L.A.’s mayoral race in a big way

2022-03-28T20:19:00-04:00

At a time when permanent supportive housing takes years to build and the average cost per unit has climbed to nearly $600,000, the cost of these tiny homes came to about $68,000 each, or roughly $35,000 per bed, according to De León’s office. In his speeches, De León likes to ask, “in what parallel universe” is it better to leave people on the street than move them into various forms of temporary housing while awaiting more permanent housing?

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez visited the second-newest in a string of tiny home developments opened in November in a space that had previously been sparsely used as a parking lot for the Eagle Rock Recreation Center and co-owned and operated by the city, county, and utilities giant SoCal Edison. At 224 beds, it is reported to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the United States and was proceeded by four similar Lehrer-designed projects across northern Los Angeles, all of which are run by a local charity called Hope in the Valley.

A frequent criticism lobbed at the mayoral frontrunner Kevin de León echoes a debate within the architectural community as to whether or not such a confined (each cabin is only 64 square feet) and, in the case of the Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes, shared space truly aligns with a humane vision of housing justice championed by de León an...

Los Angeles is turning to Lehrer Architects' Tiny Homes in its fight to construct transitional housing

2021-11-02T18:06:00-04:00

With expediency in mind, Los Angeles is looking to adopt a successful blueprint to solve the growing number of large homeless encampments that have been cropping up in the city since the beginning of the pandemic last spring.

Silverlake-based Lehrer Architects is expanding on its award-winning design for transitional housing thanks to another commission from the city’s Bureau of Engineering — now the firm's fourth collaboration.

Image courtesy Lehrer Architects

Lehrer’s Chandler Tiny Homes Village in North Hollywood won an AIALA Design Award this year with a village that became a beta design for the agency. Its polychromatic format has been repeated in a new development called Whitsett West.

Image courtesy Lehrer Architects

Los Angeles is facing rising numbers of homelessness in a year that saw citywide efforts to rehouse a record number of people. The city currently is looking to build no less than 255,000 units of affordable housing by the year 2029 and may look to bridge the serv...

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The debate around tiny homes for the homeless has inserted itself into L.A.’s mayoral race in a big way

Los Angeles is turning to Lehrer Architects' Tiny Homes in its fight to construct transitional housing