Thoughts as I prepare for the August Intensive

The previous post includes pics I have taken… the video is way too large to upload… but I will have some sort of time lapse video of the build in my presentation. I have not started to break down these pictures in any type of analytical form, but I plan to get to that this weekend. I want to be able to defend the necessity for this build. As I shared with my thesis instructor last week I have had reserve about my chosen process since I have been back from the June intensive.

Part of me feels that I have gone off on a sideways tangent yet the larger part of me knows that I had to go through this process, this build to better understand what it is that I am asking of the Las Vegas homeless community to do. If you will, I think that I have found a major part of my methods and inquiries…. I need to know and completely understand what it will take to build my house… what I am and not willing to do for a stable community life and home, what part of this process needs to be aided by persons with experience, what type of community involvement can be expected. How will I (Rethink Village) be able to collect materials, store materials, inventory materials, allot materials for a desired amount of buildings to serve the community.

I suspect that in order for me to realize this project there needs to be a clear set agenda for the community, with a time line for benchmarks as well as a set of standards and regulations with consensuses for the residents of Rethink Village in order for the community and Las Vegas officials to get onboard. I will spend some time this week working on these items that I will be able to present during the August Intensive. I realize that prior to the development of Rethink Village getting to the actual construction of the living units and a group of individuals to inhabit them there must be an action plan. Many times these action plans are realized from other agencies, organizations and community groups, however; in order for me to offer up such a progressive method of housing a population of homeless, I must be able to demonstrate how order, social implications, and accountability will be met.

Back to the build and my process….

I have been building for several hours now (stretched out over 9 days and counting…). Someone from the last intensive asked how long I expect one of these units would take to construct… my reply was, “I don’t know, but I expect one could complete a unit in a weekend.” It appears that it will take me 30 – 40 hours, but the second, third, fourth and so on would take a weekend each to complete to a point that one could move in. The level of completeness I expect that would allow someone to move in would be:
• foundation,
• framed walls,
• roof,
• roof material,
• exterior wall siding,
• secure entry door,
• secure window openings,
• some sort of interior wall finish (possible insulation, wall board, drywall, adobe mud,
• electrical wiring for the unit (final connection to power would be by licensed electrician when available)

The build and storage of materials started out in my side yard… and as I started to build the truss component and move onto laying out the footprint it soon came clear to me that I needed another spot. My wife and I packed up materials (what we could get in one load) and moved the build site to her Aunt’s house (the property owner of the subject site was not as willing to let us build on the site or even move the living unit there to take pictures once completed… there were warranted concerns about liability and what not). Here we were able to stack and inventory the materials we brought over and continue to inventory materials as we brought then over (the allocated area I had in mind for the storage yard will provide ample room for collected materials and assembled parts, i.e. walls, etc).

Tonight I plan to have the roof and some wall sheathing on. The rest of the week I hope to be able to get through the exterior siding, some drywall hung, the electrical outlet installed, coverings for the windows (some small actual windows). This weekend I plan to be working on a series of items that will include:
• cost analysis of the materials I was able to collect, have donated, and purchased,
• evaluate the method of construction and identify more productive methods/use of materials/shapes,
• show value of proper tools (a list of bare essentials and a want/wish list of power tools),
• man hours per living unit,
• proper ways to accumulate/collect materials and supplies

Preparing slides for the August Intensive:
I plan to develop a format that explains all the items listed above. To show the level of completeness of these living units I plan to have details, some sort of modeling, and pictures in a format that is reminiscent of a “how to” book. In conjunction to these slides there will pictures and statics of community involvement; availability, process, skill level required/age level appropriate tasks.

To better explain certain feasibility aspects of this community, more specifically the construction of the living units, a series of graphs, studies, lists and illustrations that will serve as visual aids to the process and feasibility.


What I plan to bring to this coming intensive is a package that analyses and demonstrates how Rethink Village can be implemented and meet the goals of reusing the leftovers/discarded construction waste (construction principles/concepts gathered from Fathy), define defensible spaces (concepts gathered from Newman), and embrace the vernacular style that together will help unite, reconcile and integrate a former homeless population into an active role in Las Vegas.