Archinect - News

Giving Shelter; A conversation with Sofia Borges & R. Scott Mitchell about architecture's potential to house us all

2019-11-28T12:02:00-05:00

On this installment of Archinect Sessions, we’re sharing a conversation I had a couple of months ago with Sofia Borges and R. Scott Mitchell, the leaders of a design-build studio at USC that addressed one of the most pressing issues in Los Angeles today—homelessness.

The MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio set out with the goal of addressing this city-wide crisis by developing a real-world architectural response. The initial motivation for the studio came from the founders of MADWORKSHOP, Mary and David Martin, who reached out to USC School of Architecture with the hope that the students would be able to come up with some practical, creative and buildable solutions of homelessness in Los Angeles. You can learn more about the studio in this feature we have previously published. Since the completion of the studio they have produced a book documenting the process and results in "Give Me Shelter." The book is currently available for purchase from ORO, the publisher, or on Amazon.

Our conversa...

Two-family house designed and built by Yale students opens in New Haven

2017-09-29T15:33:00-04:00

This year’s house marks the 50th project built by first-year students in the Yale School of Architecture’s professional degree program. Since it started in 1967, the building project has produced structures for communities around New Haven, including the Bridgeport band shell, pavilions in East Rock Park and Lighthouse Point Park, and since 1989, affordable housing units for over 30 families.

First-year graduate students at Yale School of Architecture and Design have built a family house in New Haven. The two units are separated by a walkway but under the same roof. The project was realized in collaboration with Columbus House, a New Haven-based homelessness services provider. Most of the house was prefabricated on Yale campus.

USC's Homeless Studio debuts a new video

2017-07-17T17:08:00-04:00

Previously covered by Archinect, MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio is a USC course exploring the architect’s role in helping to solve Los Angeles' rapidly accelerating homelessness crisis.

"Getting someone off the street and into permanent housing doesn't happen right away. We are looking at lead time of 2-5 years per project. How do we help people today?"- asks Sofia Borges in the freshly released video.