Piedmont Supportive Housing
Term: Fall 2021
Class: Reframing Property Studio
Instructor: Janette Kim - California College of the Arts
This project is in collaboration with Savannah Lindsey
The project utilizes a system of rotating retaining walls and intermediary support spaces serviced by fixtures in order to
incorporate a supportive housing community into the exclusive single-family enclave of Piedmont, California.
Throughout the history of the United States, themes of racist zoning policies and land redistribution have disproportionately affected people of color. Certain communities, such as Piedmont, have benefited from decades of racial covenants and exclusionary policies that have allowed institutionalized racism to persist and become further ingrained within our zoning and housing policies. In Oakland, which surrounds Piedmont, policies such as redlining and eminent domain have destroyed communities and increased segregation across differently red-lined zones.
Throughout the history of the United States, themes of racist zoning policies and land redistribution have disproportionately affected people of color. Certain communities, such as Piedmont, have benefited from decades of racial covenants and exclusionary policies that have allowed institutionalized racism to persist and become further ingrained within our zoning and housing policies. In Oakland, which surrounds Piedmont, policies such as redlining and eminent domain have destroyed communities and increased segregation across differently red-lined zones.
In order to create the framework for this system of housing and support, we wanted to develop a system that allowed for designated housing sites that were dynamic in their placement, allowing for pockets of “more public” or “more private” zones of interaction to be generated.
By understanding ‘fixtures’ and ‘walls’ as elements that can both contain and influence one another, we first placed a series of retaining walls within the scope of each individual triangle. These fixed walls both create stable zones for permanent private residences, as well as help to navigate the difficult slope of the site.
Through our research into public housing and restorative justice practices, we identified strong links between mass incarceration, poverty, institutionalized racism, and a lack of available housing combined with a lack of supportive services. Our current incarceration system, which we have termed as that of retributive justice, is designed to keep those who have entered the system, within the system. While effective, we can definitively determine that this system of mass incarceration is one of the biggest contributors to the cycle of poverty and disadvantage.
The project seeks to provide restorative services to individuals and families affected by mass incarceration through the creation of a system that provides both housing and supportive services that create long-term success amongst individuals who have previously suffered at the hands of an unjust system.
