something about temporary housing...

Something about temporary housing and the need for permanent solutions...

Under the direction of our team leader, Karen Tanfield, we have been working very hard, juggling work (paid), families, the AFP normal stuff and trying to get a submission ready for the Canberra Biennial. The topic was "temporary housing".In the research process we found many aspects about housing that are important, for example, the shortage of permanent accommodation for locals as well as refugees.
Some comments from our interviewees addressed the way that we "professionals" regard emergency accommodation. According to them, we tend to tackle the solution as a design object detached from the real needs of its inhabitants. The question is then asked, “ Is this good enough"?

Our submission to the Biennial was an abstract installation that looked at the experience of homelessness in Australia. Whether our submission is built or not, the process was fantastic and involved four different disciplines, social planning, urban design, public art and architecture. Karen will present the research in October. In the meantime there are a number of new competitions that are coming up soon as well as a possible friendship project in Cape Town, South Africa so please contact us if you would like to be involved.

the team: Shelley, Karen, Su, Agus, Ceri, Beatriz