With a will to end homelessness in Vancouver, Architecture for Humanity is holding a charrette this Saturday (April 17) where six groups of designers will compete to create a viable housing option out of shipping containers (aka Intermodal Steel Building Units).
Although this would serve as only a temporary measure to curb the growth of homelessness in the city, Linus Lam, the executive director of Architecture for Humanity and organizer of Saturday’s Quick Homes Superchallenge (being held at InterUrban Gallery at 1 East Hastings Street) explained to the Straight that the idea is a sensible one.
“Vancouver being a trading post, there are actually a lot of these shipping containers around that are vacant,” he told the Straight by phone. “They are not being used because, for shipping purposes, they have a certain lifespan.”
Of course, any endeavour with a goal as ambitious as ending homelessness is not without its challenges. The most pressing, according to Lam, is getting the public excited about the idea. Janice Abbott, the executive director of Atira, a nonprofit society dedicated to helping vulnerable women, can relate to that notion. She spoke at the charrette’s lecture Thursday about housing in an economy that lacks government funding…
Posted by Erin Steele
April 16, 2010