housing — Blog — Zen Ren Inc

By Karim Abdel-Wadood

The scope of LA’s housing crisis is, in a word, massive. It can often be absurd to try to think of it in any non-abstract terms. In concrete terms, there are approximately 66,000 people living on the streets, in shelters or in their vehicles across the county. Within LA city limits, the number of unhoused people has increased 14.2% in the last year. While there are systems in place that are housing what is supposedly a "record number of people", the LA Housing Service's efficacy is called into question because of it's exorbitant - and perhaps disproportionate - spending to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is not unusual to see inefficiency and ineffectiveness when civic institutions are comprised of convoluted bureaucracies[1]. From a more zoomed-out perspective, there is a culture of viewing housing as a financial investment as opposed to a human right. Gambling on real estate in this way has generated an enormous amount of waste[2]. In addition to that, it's essential to recognize that stagnant wages and systemic racism are also large contributors to this crisis. However, the intersectionality of many factors operating at once makes it disingenuous to definitively say what the main culprits are. The reality is that change must occur at the micro level (through a shift in the paradigms that we as individuals believe in with regards to the things and people we deem to be valuable and deserving), in addition to the macro level (through increased representation in and the formation of non-exploitative civic institutions). It’s important to consider the interoperability of these variables so that we can meditate on and better understand how we have allowed this matter to reach the point that it has, and how we can begin to creatively approach confronting this incredibly large social failure.

That being said, the practice of imagining how we want housing to look like in the future is necessary for reflecting on and understanding what we aim to fix and how. In this, we would be imagining not only what these buildings would look like (and this would be a reflection of the things we value most as domestic creatures such as light, open outdoor space and beautiful forms), but how this would translate to our relationship with our work and our neighbors, and how they would translate into a political voice more able to advocate for itself. Take a moment to imagine a future where our unhoused population were seen as valued and valuable members of society, and not just in the United States. This would involve a paradigm shift in many facets of our understanding of our relationship with our governments, our resources and our fellow citizens. In it’s current manifestation, the American mentality values the individual above the collective to an extreme extent. This translates to individual members of society only getting as much space as they can carve out for themselves, and this subsequently favors the economically empowered. How we see this translated to reality on the ground is in the form of uninspired housing projects that have come to be perceived as being focal points of poverty and crime. Recently, I’ve been introduced to examples of precedents that have helped broaden my understanding of what we may hope to achieve. I wanted to take some time to share two of them.

In Chile, as with many countries around the world, an increased emphasis on urbanization has caused a shortage of employment opportunities in rural areas[3]. This has forced many of those living in the countryside to move closer the urban centers by building neighborhoods of informal housing. Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, with the help of the local community[4], devised a solution. Essentially, "half of a house" - specifically the half that the families of the community in question would not be able to acquire themselves - would be provided by the state to each tenant, including necessary infrastructure like plumbing, bathrooms and kitchens. The design was then conceived such that it would support an expansion of the house that the families themselves would be able to provide. Essentially, providing the frame and then letting the family take over.

The article that I cited[5] makes the argument that while these housing developments are a necessary step up from dangerous slums, the approach taken here is one that concedes the fact that the government is only able to provide meager funds. In LA, I don't imagine this would be any different. With that in mind, the long term goal should not be a matter of simply working within the inadequate parameters set by the government, but rather challenging the government to begin prioritizing public sector investment.

It's important to not think of urbanization as the problem that is in need of being fixed. The migration towards urban centers is not strictly due to the lack of infrastructural investment in rural areas (although that is a big part of it). Urban density is - perhaps contrary to popular belief - largely beneficial to social wellness and cohesion because it makes services more easily accessible. The problem arises when our ability to scale urban infrastructure cannot catch up to the rate at which these urban centers grow.

The second example I wanted to look at and discuss is the result of a project led by a federal company that develops workers' housing in Mexico. The community we're looking at is located in Hidalgo, a state bordering Mexico City to the North. The goal was to develop housing solutions that involved new construction techniques, systems for saving water and sustainable power sources[6]. These housing prototypes were developed by 32 companies that aimed to explore typologies reflective of 9 different climate zones in Mexico[7]. As a result the solutions featured a wide range of materiality and building methodologies, ranging from rethinking spatial orginization to recasting structures. The thought framework behind these solutions is what interests me in particular. The concept of rethinking how materials are used and how forms are arranged instead of devising altogether new building typologies makes these solutions more attainable and feasible. Beyond that, and though this may be an incredibly obvious point, designing with the goal of self-sustenance (through paying careful attention to the climatic and cultural conditions) is key to creating thriving communities.

Naturally, this particular example is not without it's criticisms. It brings to mind Hassan Fathy's experiment in New Gourna, which failed to produce practical solutions for Egypt's urban and housing problems[8]. This is largely attributed to the top-down approach to solving housing crises that is prevalent anywhere there is social hierarchies that draw sharp lines between knowledgeable professionals and the receivers of their expertise - usually working class or individuals that have not had a formal education. In these cases, the needs of the user aren't considered and the project is seen as an experimental work that aims to tackle an issue that's been turned into an abstract idea instead of an on-the-ground reality. This is of particular concern in a place like Mexico (and a place like LA for that matter) where citizens feel underrepresented by and distrustful of their government. The goal here should be to develop housing solutions for working class people that allow them to feel fulfilled, nourished, recharged and actualized, and not simply as a mechanism through which to improve their productivity. While it is natural that as someone becomes more comfortable and happy they are more likely to be more productive, the difference between the two ideations is that in the first ideation, workers are seen as valued members of society and not vehicles for creating value and profit.

It's difficult to imagine a future where we see public housing as a beautiful solution to a serious crisis we face in many urban environments - especially here in LA - and not just a series of concessions we make to our most vulnerable communities to keep the social fabric from unraveling. In this way, the housing system attempts to preserve political stability and private profit accumulation. In actuality, this idea of the commodification of our dwelling space is relatively new[9] and this illuminates for us the fact that this system as it stands is anything but permanent. This future has proven to be well within reach but it requires a reframing of how we think of materiality, resources and the role of the unhoused in our society. Above all, our imaginations should be fueled by a genuine understanding of the needs of our unhoused community and their active participation in the process as contributors and not just recipients.

[1] Scott, Anna. “Homelessness In Los Angeles County Rises Sharply.” NPR, NPR, 12 June 2020, www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875888864/homelessness-in-los-angeles-county-rises-sharply.

[2] Chandler, Jenna. “Will LA Start Building Public Housing Again?” Curbed LA, Curbed LA, 12 Feb. 2020, la.curbed.com/2020/2/12/21133788/housing-right-social-public-los-angeles-bonin.

[3] Day, Meagan. “We Can Have Beautiful Public Housing.” Jacobin, 13 Nov. 2018, jacobinmag.com/2018/11/beautiful-public-housing-red-vienna-social-housing?fbclid=IwAR2mGDnoUUFPKJqwINJasYxJSeVXZKsAZNM9Dy5pi8VoBnjVRHN1zp_eS9U.

[4] “Alejandro Aravena: My Architectural Philosophy? Bring the Community Into the Process.” Youtube uploaded by TED, 6 November 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0I0Poe3qlg.

[5] Day, “We Can Have Beautiful Public Housing.”

[6] Gibson, Eleanor. “Mexico Prototypes 32 Low-Income House Designs in Small Neighbourhood.” Dezeen, 23 Aug. 2019, www.dezeen.com/2019/08/23/housing-research-and-practical-experimentation-laboratory-infonavit-low-cost/.

[7] Pskowski, Martha. “Mexico's Housing Laboratory Shows off 32 Low-Cost Prototypes.” The Architect's Newspaper, 9 Oct. 2019, www.archpaper.com/2019/10/mos-mexican-housing-laboratory/.

[8] Observer, Cairo. “Hassan Fathy and The Architecture for the Poor: The Controversy of Success.” Archi Datum: Architecture in Africa, 28 Mar. 2016, www.archidatum.com/articles/hassan-fathy-and-the-architecture-for-the-poor-the-controversy-of-success/.

[9] Kershaw, Paul. “Capitalism's Housing Crisis.” Socialism Today - Capitalism's Housing Crisis, May 2017, socialismtoday.org/archive/208/housing.html.