Construction Maison

The lack of affordable housing and the city's overburdened shelters led to a range of possible ways to combat the problem—but it was inspiration from the houseless community themselves ("houseless" is a preferred term within the community) that led to the start of an innovative solution.  In the spring of 2016, a group called the Village Coalition—made up of advocates, activists, and houseless individuals—joined forces with several student fellows and faculty Sergio Palleroni and Todd Ferry from the Center for Public Interest Design (CPID), a research and action center within the Portland State University 's School of Architecture. Working together, they created the POD Initiative (Partners On Dwelling) to address  houselessness in the city. They observed that the houseless community had been establishing their own informal "villages" around the city. As a result, the group reached out to the greater architecture community , asking them to apply their...

'Your home is wherever you stop and that's what's really, really cool about that whole idea' Rain patters on the roof of John Salhany's 2006 Mercedes Sprinter van as he points out the half-finished ceiling of tongue-and- groove pine paneling that will eventually continue down the walls over layers of plywood and reflective insulation. Items strewn in the hollowed back include a dusty climbing rope , a road bike and a six-pack of Upslope Brewing Company 's Citra Pale Ale . All his essentials will soon have their places once the van build-out is complete, when Salhany will have a bed big enough to accommodate all 6 feet, 2 inches of him, a countertop with a sink and drawers, and maybe even a backsplash with the cutout of the mountains — amenities like that of a house. "I have a lot of friends who are buying houses right now who are just getting to that age, all on the East Coast and I'm just like, how do you guys know where you want to live?" said...