Place of dwelling

Place of Dwelling (POD) is a small-scale, deployable housing unit designed to address the housing crisis using innovative design, construction, and implementation methods.

The Design

During the Covid 19 pandemic, we have all truly come to understand the value of our homes, this experience shed light on the fact that individuals without access to a shelter are extremely vulnerable. Our proposal to address this macro scale issue is to utilize some of the empty lots that exist in multiple cities nationwide to create a community/village of dignified individual shelters. P.O.D is designed to not only be affordable, adaptable, and replicable but can also be implemented in a variety of orientations and site conditions throughout cities.

PRAGMATIC + FEASIBLE

The pod is **affordable**, **buildable**, and can be **easily erected** with little construction knowledge needed.

DEPLOYABLE + SCALABLE

The structure has a modular design which allows for it to be **relocated** to another site and **redeployed** across different scales.

MICRO + MACRO SCALE

A single unit **(micro)** can be deployed to address housing insecurity. Multiple units can be aggregated and scaled **(macro)** across a site to create a community.

understanding homelessness in America

The U.S. federal government spends over $51 billion in funding for selected homelessness and housing programs. This, of course, does not include city, county, or private dollars invested in homelessness and affordable housing as well

Ras j. baraka

“We believe that every person in Newark deserves dignity and safety that comes with having stable housing. We applaud the (POD team) for taking a serious look at the housing crisis in Newark, and using their knowledge to create a viable, functioning home that can help solve one of the most important issues of our time.”
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Mayor of Newark, NJ
Christopher watson

“Access to shelter remains an equity issue in this country, this city and as we are now engaged in the community input phase of our master plan, Newark360, (POD) provides an excellent example of the different approaches we must consider as a city to one, provide an affordable house option, and two, anchor vulnerable Newarkers in place”
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City Planner, Newark, NJ