I'm working on my masters thesis. The topic is portable housing for migrant workers. I just wanted to know if anyone has come across any interesting articles or examples of migrant housing.
I am designing, specifically, for migrant workers coming into the United States from Mexico (legally or illegally) and working in west coast farms. The emphasis here is on housing that can travel with its user. Any information is appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
vado retro
Feb 20, 07 9:36 am
a house trailer?
jackalope
Feb 20, 07 1:39 pm
I'm sure you've done this, but in case not, you may look at the bracero program during WWII. May be a source of info.
Aaron Willette
Feb 20, 07 2:08 pm
Design Corps has dealt with this I believe, check it out.
Bryan Finoki
Feb 20, 07 2:43 pm
I posted some of my own gathered findings on this topic here.
Medusa
Feb 20, 07 3:33 pm
Thanks, everyone.
Bryan: Great article. I came across it a while back, and I even cited it in a preliminary write-up I did last semester on my thesis proposal. What was your source for the "Resident Alien" project? I tried searching for more information on it, but there's not much out there. I was wondering if you found it in a particular publication.
Bryan Finoki
Feb 20, 07 4:08 pm
Medusa,
cool, glad to hear it has been useful. keep me posted about the progress of your thesis, as i am obviously very interested in the same topic.
Andrew Dahlgren, the designer of the Resident Alien project, and I were in contact. I spoke directly with him about his project. Email me and I will give you his email, sure he wouldn't mind talking with you about it.
kellynsee
Feb 21, 07 11:24 am
hi! there's this project by this guy illac diaz from the philippines which is also a migrant housing thing... he won some competitions from it from MIT and.. something else.. this is an article about it.. if you're interested i'll try to get his contact details so you can talk to him about it.
Not sexy but good site design and community based design processes.
Also Penelope West did a good thesis on this at the University of Washington.
Design Corps also does work in this area as was mentioned before.
snooker
Feb 22, 07 8:34 am
Plinky Fisk Austin Texas has done some work in your area.
nonarchitect
Feb 22, 07 12:07 pm
It is far easier to move your own body than to move an entire house, you should be designing a temporary housing network rather than a moveable structure...afterall, those places also have strong association with homelessness...
Line(DoT)
Feb 22, 07 12:34 pm
JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
IT'S A GREAT ARTICLE :
what does it mean to put a migrant worker in a moving home?? will they migrate forever? how does this present them to the american population? what issues are you dealing with other than simply temporary accomodation.
vado retro
Feb 22, 07 6:26 pm
although the issue of adequate housing for migrant workers is an important one, i don't see too much in it as a march. thesis project.
mdler
Feb 22, 07 7:43 pm
what about housing for architects???
vado retro
Feb 22, 07 7:46 pm
there's a nice spot under the bridge!
HoleInTheW ll
Dec 29, 07 5:09 am
"although the issue of adequate housing for migrant workers is an important one, i don't see too much in it as a march. thesis project." Vado Retro
I think that's your limitation, not the topic's.
Medusa
I see this is an old topic... so how has your project worked out?
Nam Henderson
Dec 30, 07 3:34 pm
Doesn't this seem as if it is very "in" right now?
I mean migrant/transient housing is a concern worldwide, so there is an obvious need..
But hasn't it been looked at before?
Obviously the social/legal factors leading up to the transient situation are of deeper structural importance. How can architecture address that.??
Can, it..? DOes it just have to be here is a roof for a night/week/day?
switters
Dec 31, 07 8:45 am
this is not a 'design' problem. aestheticizing social issues is misguided territory for architects. it ain't a march thesis issue.
the trailer home is an architectural typology yes? As are motels, or dorms. Transient/migrant housing has programmatic and urban issues, not just social.
You imply architecture is purely aesthetic. (and that all architects do the same thing).
namhenderson-
what hasn't been done? I don't think a universally perfect solution has been found. Any previous research would just be good material to build on, no?
Seems to me, a large migrant population would effect, or be effected by, public transportation, access to employment, NIMBY, and other urban issues, just like low-income housing, high rise condos, sports arenas, hotels... there would be zoning and bylaws and social infrastructure to consider. Which could feed back into a building design.
Zittel seems to deal with psychological space more than anything happening outside of those compartments.
Nam Henderson
Dec 31, 07 10:44 am
@ HoleintheWall....
Of course your right. I didn't mean to imply you shouldn't look at it..
As you said i think their are much larger issues besides simply building transient/moveable housing....Social/Legal etc.
Zittel is definetly (i think) more interested in psychological space, however i imagine that re: migrants psychological space as it pertains to the idea of "home" or "sanctuary" etc might be of great importance.
It really seems as if there are two directiosn for you to take..One which would actually be focused the creation of some sort of housing type/the creation of an actual structure or at least it's plan..The other direction being one wherein you focus more on the issue, especially as related to planning/zoning and the legal/social issues that impact migrant housing.
This thread was started 10 months ago, I wonder how the thesis went (is going).
HoleInTheW ll
Dec 31, 07 11:03 am
why does my html keep getting cut off? grr.
Medusa
Dec 31, 07 11:05 am
HoleintheWall:
To answer your question... I'm done working on this project and in turned out well. The more I worked on it, the more it turned out to be about researching how portable housing can be a more viable option for housing migrant workers than the other options available to them. I did have a design component, which ended up being secondary to the research.
It's somewhat unfair to do a project like this locked in the bubble of academia, but the results can be used as a springboard for further discourse about housing out in the field. And I found that the existing research on migrant workers is disconnected and statistics are inaccurate. I spent a lot of time trying to peice together the migrant worker's lifestyle and career.
Anyway... if you're interested in taking a look at the finished document, send me an e-mail. I'll send you a pdf.
hammadullahmuhammadzai
Oct 17, 17 10:02 am
can you send me the details of your project i am also working on portable architecture in my B.S program
Hey, everyone.
I'm working on my masters thesis. The topic is portable housing for migrant workers. I just wanted to know if anyone has come across any interesting articles or examples of migrant housing.
I am designing, specifically, for migrant workers coming into the United States from Mexico (legally or illegally) and working in west coast farms. The emphasis here is on housing that can travel with its user. Any information is appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
a house trailer?
I'm sure you've done this, but in case not, you may look at the bracero program during WWII. May be a source of info.
Design Corps has dealt with this I believe, check it out.
I posted some of my own gathered findings on this topic here.
Thanks, everyone.
Bryan: Great article. I came across it a while back, and I even cited it in a preliminary write-up I did last semester on my thesis proposal. What was your source for the "Resident Alien" project? I tried searching for more information on it, but there's not much out there. I was wondering if you found it in a particular publication.
Medusa,
cool, glad to hear it has been useful. keep me posted about the progress of your thesis, as i am obviously very interested in the same topic.
Andrew Dahlgren, the designer of the Resident Alien project, and I were in contact. I spoke directly with him about his project. Email me and I will give you his email, sure he wouldn't mind talking with you about it.
hi! there's this project by this guy illac diaz from the philippines which is also a migrant housing thing... he won some competitions from it from MIT and.. something else.. this is an article about it.. if you're interested i'll try to get his contact details so you can talk to him about it.
http://www.changemakers.net/cm/journal/300606/displayhousing1.cfm?ID=96
he did some housing thing for people who work in ship ports also.. i think, not too sure.
Medusa,
Check out Basic Initiatives work at
http://www.basicinitiative.org/programs/housing/Esperaza.htm
Not sexy but good site design and community based design processes.
Also Penelope West did a good thesis on this at the University of Washington.
Design Corps also does work in this area as was mentioned before.
Plinky Fisk Austin Texas has done some work in your area.
It is far easier to move your own body than to move an entire house, you should be designing a temporary housing network rather than a moveable structure...afterall, those places also have strong association with homelessness...
JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
IT'S A GREAT ARTICLE :
http://rs.resalliance.org/index.php/2006/03/15/teddy-cruz-what-adaptive-architecture-can-learn-from-shantytowns/
ALSO
http://www.casademaryland.org/
what does it mean to put a migrant worker in a moving home?? will they migrate forever? how does this present them to the american population? what issues are you dealing with other than simply temporary accomodation.
although the issue of adequate housing for migrant workers is an important one, i don't see too much in it as a march. thesis project.
what about housing for architects???
there's a nice spot under the bridge!
"although the issue of adequate housing for migrant workers is an important one, i don't see too much in it as a march. thesis project." Vado Retro
I think that's your limitation, not the topic's.
Medusa
I see this is an old topic... so how has your project worked out?
Doesn't this seem as if it is very "in" right now?
I mean migrant/transient housing is a concern worldwide, so there is an obvious need..
But hasn't it been looked at before?
Obviously the social/legal factors leading up to the transient situation are of deeper structural importance. How can architecture address that.??
Can, it..? DOes it just have to be here is a roof for a night/week/day?
this is not a 'design' problem. aestheticizing social issues is misguided territory for architects. it ain't a march thesis issue.
What about Andrea Zittel's work...
Although she is an artist not an architect???
http://www.zittel.org/
they did some work with migrant workers
switter-
the trailer home is an architectural typology yes? As are motels, or dorms. Transient/migrant housing has programmatic and urban issues, not just social.
You imply architecture is purely aesthetic. (and that all architects do the same thing).
namhenderson-
what hasn't been done? I don't think a universally perfect solution has been found. Any previous research would just be good material to build on, no?
Seems to me, a large migrant population would effect, or be effected by, public transportation, access to employment, NIMBY, and other urban issues, just like low-income housing, high rise condos, sports arenas, hotels... there would be zoning and bylaws and social infrastructure to consider. Which could feed back into a building design.
Zittel seems to deal with psychological space more than anything happening outside of those compartments.
@ HoleintheWall....
Of course your right. I didn't mean to imply you shouldn't look at it..
As you said i think their are much larger issues besides simply building transient/moveable housing....Social/Legal etc.
Zittel is definetly (i think) more interested in psychological space, however i imagine that re: migrants psychological space as it pertains to the idea of "home" or "sanctuary" etc might be of great importance.
It really seems as if there are two directiosn for you to take..One which would actually be focused the creation of some sort of housing type/the creation of an actual structure or at least it's plan..The other direction being one wherein you focus more on the issue, especially as related to planning/zoning and the legal/social issues that impact migrant housing.
namhenderson-
this isn't actually my thesis, (mine's on [url=http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=69095_0_42_0_C]Squatting/url], which gets similar criticism...)
This thread was started 10 months ago, I wonder how the thesis went (is going).
why does my html keep getting cut off? grr.
HoleintheWall:
To answer your question... I'm done working on this project and in turned out well. The more I worked on it, the more it turned out to be about researching how portable housing can be a more viable option for housing migrant workers than the other options available to them. I did have a design component, which ended up being secondary to the research.
It's somewhat unfair to do a project like this locked in the bubble of academia, but the results can be used as a springboard for further discourse about housing out in the field. And I found that the existing research on migrant workers is disconnected and statistics are inaccurate. I spent a lot of time trying to peice together the migrant worker's lifestyle and career.
Anyway... if you're interested in taking a look at the finished document, send me an e-mail. I'll send you a pdf.
can you send me the details of your project i am also working on portable architecture in my B.S program
[email protected]
Garret Eckbo did work for the FSA during the depression. The work involved design of farm camps in California.
His papers are the UC Berkeley.
Inventory of Papers