By — Saskia de Melker Saskia de Melker By — Sam Weber Sam Weber Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/architects-rethinking-design-housing-formerly-homeless-residents Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Architects rethinking design of housing for formerly homeless residents Nation Jun 13, 2015 1:16 PM EST On any given night, tens of thousands of people across the United States are living on the streets. Many advocates are pushing for a new model, permanent supportive housing, to reduce homelessness. The model prioritizes a stable place to live and has been shown to keep people from falling back into homelessness. Increasingly, people are also paying attention to the design of these permanent supportive housing facilities. Architecturally striking housing for the homeless is starting to pop up across the country. In Washington D.C., for example, The ‘La Casa’ building was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as one of the best in housing design. In the video above, learn more about the philosophy behind the design of one of these permanent supportive housing buildings located in the heart of Skid Row in downtown L.A., an area which has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people in the country. By — Saskia de Melker Saskia de Melker By — Sam Weber Sam Weber Sam Weber has covered everything from living on minimum wage to consumer finance as a shooter/producer for PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior joining NH Weekend, he previously worked for Need to Know on PBS and in public radio. He’s an avid cyclist and Chicago Bulls fan. @samkweber
On any given night, tens of thousands of people across the United States are living on the streets. Many advocates are pushing for a new model, permanent supportive housing, to reduce homelessness. The model prioritizes a stable place to live and has been shown to keep people from falling back into homelessness. Increasingly, people are also paying attention to the design of these permanent supportive housing facilities. Architecturally striking housing for the homeless is starting to pop up across the country. In Washington D.C., for example, The ‘La Casa’ building was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as one of the best in housing design. In the video above, learn more about the philosophy behind the design of one of these permanent supportive housing buildings located in the heart of Skid Row in downtown L.A., an area which has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people in the country.