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Object Culture

Compact dwelling for the homeless

By Rain Noe - January 2, 2009

Artist James Westwater's "Homeless Chateau" was produced as an art piece, but we can't help but wonder if it oughtn't be produced for usage:

Homeless Chateau, 2008, is a prefab one person living module, measuring approximately 4 x 8 x 4 feet and made from FSC certified and recycled materials.

It is designed to be used inside another building, such as a warehouse, and is fully self-contained, including a bed and cooking and toilet facilities. There are hooks for clothing and towels, and a built-in shelf unit, made from a pallet, for storage of food, books and other items. A rubber flap over the entrance provides privacy, and one end of the structure is made from translucent polyurethane to let in natural light.

Homeless Chateau is fabricated from standard 4 x 8 and 4 x 4-foot sheets of plywood, OSB and construction signs, and can be knocked down, transported flat, and erected quickly and easily with just a screwdriver. Once assembled, the structure can be moved around the host space on its casters and then set in place with a temporary foundation--two bricks under the front. Homeless Chateaux can be easily reconfigured and combined to make dual-occupancy and eight-foot-tall structures.

Westwater's website, and links to his other "Plywood Chateau(x)," is here.

Rain Noe

Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.

3 Comments

James Westwater

10 years ago

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Reply

I will give the Homeless Chateau prototype to a benefactor who can provide a safe, warm, dry space in which to park the Chateau and ensure that a homeless individual will benefit from it.

I am also considering a sponsorship program in which benefactors would pay $500 per Homeless Chateau, to cover materials and fabrication costs. Others would donate transportation of the Chateaux and donate spaces in which homeless people could live in the shelters.

Plywood Chateaux can also be easily "cloned" at remote locations, i.e. I don't have to make them, and they don't have to be transported from Beacon, NY. The materials are basic, standardized and readily available almost anywhere.

I would encourage other people around the country to build Homeless Chateaux and urge their local municipalities and landlords with appropriate vacant spaces to donate those spaces for homeless individuals to live in the Chateaux.
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frank

10 years ago

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Z

Reply

This is an interesting piece of art but I'm always worried when I see those homeless shelter design projects. If designers continues on this direction they will manage to create another "de-humanized" category of people. Art provocation to focus on homeless peoples problem;YES, a new design solution to solve problems; NO.
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brian

10 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

This is the coolest housing i have seen in a while...i luv it!
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