Thesis Proposal - Preliminary-2

Kenneth A. Ballard's PP Distance M. Arch Thesis Proposal

To the Thesis Committee at Boston Architectural College

Practicing Professional Distance Masters of Architecture Program

Boston, Massachusetts

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Introduction

This type of community, a self sustained homeless community; has been of interest to me for many years... I first read an article, Dignity Village Sets Precedence for Homeless Settlement; in the May 2002 edition of ARCHITECTURE about a community in Portland, Oregon and was intrigued with the comment of community, living conditions, day to day operations of the occupants and techniques used to build and sustain this community.

I first toured the community in October of 2004, where I was inspired by the willingness of this homeless community to help them selves in a manner that involved developing their own sense of belonging, living accommodations, community and re-habitation.

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The Community

This community could become the location, idealism and control point as to how the homeless are viewed and housed......

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The Housing Types

The housing types although not expected to be the be-all, end-all to the traditional homeless shelter or the typical Las Vegas track home; the units must provide the basic necessities: shelter from the elements, a place to come home to everyday, sense of ownership and sustainable.

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The Location

This site for this ideal community should not be discarded to the far reaching outskirts of town as the main consternation of the current homeless community is mostly centralized to the downtown area. A few sites have been identified:

1. Downtown area near Bonanza and the Spaghetti bowl (I-15/I-95)

2. Downtown area between Mojave and N. Pecos along Stewart

3. Industrial area near Losee and Lake Mead adjacent to I-15

There may also be other sites that are just as qualified or even more qualified that have yet to be explored.

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The Leadership

The leadership of this community needs to local (originating from the homeless community) with local support from an individual within the business, political or industry community.

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The Community Involvement

The Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson communities should be supportive or at the minimum non-destructive to the ideal of supporting the homeless community in helping rise their status within the main-stream communities by creating a stepping stone towards full re-integration into the main-stream communities.

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The Ownership

This community, although part of the local jurisdiction and responsible to the ordinances, laws of its governing municipality should also demand from its residence another set of conduct and bylaws to help control the activates, construction appearance and livelihood. As well as provide a larger sense of ownership a part of belonging, as it is truly theirs as they have created it.

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The Community Goals

This community will have an established set of regulations that allow for development of ones progress towards re-introduction into the main-stream community as well as construction and methods regulations.

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The Funding

This community could become self sustained in a sort period of time. The current status of many of homeless is not a blique as many seem. The homeless community is full of fallen potential and untapped potential, many are blue collar workers that fell on hard times and left with nowhere productive to go, others are professionals that tried to make it on their own and their business failed due to a poor financial strategy while others are still yet to have their potential realized...... The beginning will require able and willing support outside the homeless community to help, support and provide at its early stages. Possible areas for financial revenue include: arts and crafts, vehicle repair, other work programs




Research: A Partial Bibliography

HousingDignity Village Sets Precedence for Homeless SettlementsPortland , OregonArchitect/Designer: Mark Lakeman Author: Randy Graggph.; p.47-51; May 2002; ARCHITECTURE (02-49)

Porter-Truax, Mary. Pawn on a Chessboard. Mustang: Tate Publishing, LLC, 2006.

Borchard, Kurt. The Word on the Street: Homeless Men in Las Vegas. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005.

Kubler, George. The Art and Architecture of Ancient America, Third Edition: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1984

re-introduce or shun away

Poll Question:

There is always the debate of whether or nor the homeless want to again be part of main stream society? To many, the homeless are "their own people" and if they had not made their own bad decisions they would not be homeless. The main stream society pays little attention to the homeless except during the holiday seasons. Many donate to the Goodwill, Salvation Army or help out in a soup kitchen, it is societies way to make sure they are taken care of; however during the rest of the year we either shun them or pretend to care by starting groups and organizations or raising money that will dictate their lives, meals, education, decisions. This leads me to the poll... I start to wonder how many people think the majority of homeless want help, if they want help at all, or is it one type of homeless that wants help?. Please take a few moments to think this over and vote.

Preliminary thesis thoughts

Aspirations Synopsis:

I believe that a thesis paper/project should present two major items: life dedication to an idea or concept and critical review of those dedications. The life dedication does not necessarily get reflected in a career until it happens and critical review of those dedications always resurface in unexpected areas.

Is there a desirability of the undesirable. Is there a need/desire among the homeless to be re-introduced back into society? I believe there is an amount of feelings and behavioral aspects concerning behavioral expectations of the homeless, city officials and the community. In Portland, Oregon, there is a community of non-homeless homeless people where they are welcomed into the group and begin to become part of the community where feelings are mended and behavioral aspects are addressed. This particular community is self sustained and has developed a way to be re-introduced back into mainstream society. Is there a need, desire (from both sides of the line), responsibility for this kind of community in my community, Las Vegas? Can this type of community be sustained in Vegas where there are fewer resources... farming, arts and crafts, etc.... than that in the Portland community? Will the Vegas homeless community accept this type of ‘home-grown’ society that can enable a mainstream life style?

Some areas of exploration include:
Housing types
Location
Leadership
Community involvement
Ownership
Community goals
Funding (public/private)