Tiny Homes Competition Entry / 2016. Chicago, IL

The Tiny Homes Competition's goal was to create a development of homes in Chicago for temporary stay of homeless youths who are investing their time in jobs, education, and training.
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This project is constructed of cardboard tubes. This is sustainable, using 100% recycled cardboard, manufactured in Chicago. The cardboard tubes also provide a unique aesthetic and character to the architecture, in the circles on the front and back facades of each unit. This is an important aspect, since failed past housing projects have often been bland, standardized, and lifeless. The housing units have a fairly open plan inside. Small spaces, including the bed, closet, and bathroom, are on one side of the home. This leaves a large, flexible space on the other side of the unit. The flexible space includes areas to cook, eat, relax, and work. The courtyard is the focal point of the tiny home complex. This provides a community-building space for the residents, while also addressing site security issues. This sense of community is furthered by the attached community building at the corner of the site, differentiated from the homes by a height difference. At the opposite corner of the site, a storage building, the same size as a housing unit, has access to the sidewalk and to the courtyard. This includes space for bikes, as do bike racks at another corner of the site. Alternating roofs provide a sense of ownership for the residents by differentiating the homes from each other. The steep roofs are in context to the site, responding to snowfall. Also in response to the site is the rectangular organization of the architecture. This responds to the shapes of the surrounding buildings.