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The takeaway home
Updated On: 15 August, 2021 10:57 AM IST | Mumbai | Anju Maskeri
An Indian environmental designer living in San Francisco has designed a micro dwelling to solve the homelessness crisis in LA. She tells us why India could use it too
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A homeless man in the Skid Row section, Los Angles, in a file photo. Pic/Getty Images
In 2018, when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti reached out to architecture and design schools in the country for guidance to design what is known as bridge housing or temporary shelters for the homeless, environmental designer Jayati Sinha decided to step up to the challenge. “The project appealed to me because the idea could be directly transported to any country in the world that faces some version of homelessness,” says the National Institute of Fashion Technology graduate. “I know what it feels like to be followed and threatened by strangers. Not having a place to go back to at night must feel frighteningly vulnerable. Imagine experiencing that every day! People deserve to feel secure.”
California’s ArtCenter College of Design participated in the challenge with a project led by Professor James Meraz, where Sinha joined as an environment designer.
Her prototype of the Pop Hut has been accepted by the Los Angeles mayor and is now in the process of gathering funding. “The Coronavirus pandemic stalled the process, but with vaccinations in full swing, the project is back on track,” she says. The Pop Hut is an easily transportable, folding, flat packed housing concept featuring a shaded entry, intended to give the structure a cosier feeling of home. It has a front door with a keyed lock, and a tiny front stoop complete with a motion-activated porch light. Inside the hut, Sinha has used colour and transparency as “therapeutic tools to make users feel secure and cared for”. “The interiors also have some open shelving so that the user can customise it according to their needs, personal aesthetic and belongings to make it feel like home. The total footprint of the hut is 5 m2. So, this is an ideal solution for temporary housing to be provided at construction sites, defence installations and even for slum dwellers.” The hut was built for about USD 2,000 (about Rs 1,48,434). She says the cost can be reduced further if the huts are made in bulk and using lower cost of materials in India. This version is made of birch plywood, polycarbonate panels (translucent material), aluminium tubes for frames and honeycomb panels for insulation. “I welded each panel myself.
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