Make It Home: a Story of Art and Connection

Hello!

My name is Sienna (19) and I am currently attending the University of Florida as a pre-med student.

Despite most of my school load consisting of assignments focused on science and math, I frequently yearn to pursue hobbies that I've enjoyed since youth. Often times, in-between breaks, I find myself setting aside a decent chunk of time to complete painting/sculpting/crocheting projects that I put on hold during the semesters.

My love for hands on activities has also led me to pursue a certificate in Arts in Medicine, which allows me to take classes that focus on creating from scratch/with limited materials. The experience I've gained from such classes have truly helped me learn more about what I am capable of.

If you took the time to look at my profile, you may have noticed that these contests oftentimes led me to focus on homes utilizing abandoned shipping containers. My previous contest attempt solely depended on cardboard boxes to bring to life the shipping container "aesthetic." However, as you will surely see, this year I wanted to challenge myself and utilize other materials I had on hand to make what I would consider a realistic container. While I will forever appreciate the endless possibilities of cardboard, I must say that this project brought me great joy as I was able to actively see improvements in my own artistic capabilities.

Not only did I care to make the base more realistic, I wanted to create an actual home that one could envision themselves growing in. The "Make It Home: Student Design Contest" suggested we address specific problems such as:

1. Promoting a community's economic development
2. Addressing chronic homelessness
3. Improving the environment/supporting local sustainability goals

And while each of these problems were definitely ones I tried to address, I also wanted to focus on aspects of community and connection. So, as you continue reading through this Instructables, I hope that you'll be able to envision the endless possibilities that can arise from simply leaving room to promote individual and community growth.

Physical Model Necessities:

1. Ruler
2. Coffee Stirrers
3. Wooden Rods
4. Scissors
5. Clear Hot Glue
6. Hot Glue Gun
7. Elmer's Glue
8. Paint
9. Thread
10. Yarn
11. Cardboard
12. Clay
13. Paper Towels
14. Tooth Picks
15. Home Depot Color Tester Papers
16. Foam Board
17. Pencil
18. Pens
19. Tape
20. Plastic Bag
21. Flash Cards
22. Colored Wire
23. Paper
24. Patience

To even begin this project, a crucial question to ask is: who currently requires assistance?

Unfortunately, America is a country that clearly suffers from high rates of homelessness throughout the 50 states. Oftentimes, the rates between states vastly differ when considering the percentage of homeless persons that make up the given population. To provide visual estimations, as no clear cut number would be statistically possible, usnews offers a consensus of ranges from states with high homelessness:

1. California (187,084)
2. New York (158,019)
3. Washington (31,554)
4. Florida (31,362)

Not only is it important to consider the overall rate of homelessness, but it is also crucial to understand that there are layers to everyone's situation. To clarify, homelessness can revolve around truly being unhoused and on the streets compared to owning no property yet seeking refugee into welcoming shelters. Such shelters are extremely important as they help provide footing or a sense of normalcy in an extremely frustrating and daunting situation. However, as ideal as homeless shelters may seem, they unfortunately are not a valid resource for many unhoused people. Oftentimes these structures can be overcrowded and underfunded, not leaving enough rooms for the hundreds to thousands of people with home insecurity.

According to research undertaken in 2024, published by usnews, states situated in the Western and Southern areas tended to have the highest rates of unsheltered homelessness. In other words, these areas were not able to provide any source of housing or temporary structure for the large population of homeless individuals. These geographic areas include the state that this project will be located in: California.

Now, another important question to ask: what happens to unsheltered homeless individuals? Well, oftentimes these individuals are forced to take to the streets and find any sort of material that can help provide a small source of comfort throughout the nights. These sources of comfort can include structures such as underneath bridges, train stations, park benches, etc. Despite these individuals literally using the only resources they can find, issues still arise. California has repeatedly made efforts towards reducing the visualization of homelessness. Now, understand that I am strictly speaking about the visualization of homeless. In other words, bans have been put into place to prohibit levels of camping. Now, there are most definitely good acts still being utilized in California, and people/places who wish to help individuals that need it but yet it still isn't enough as the cost of living is astronomically high in this state.

Thus, the state that I chose to incorporate for this project and its focus on chronic homelessness is California.

References:

https://nlihc.org/explore-issues/why-we-care/problem

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/states-with-the-most-homeless-people

https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/camping-ban-ordinances/

A popular belief surrounding homelessness and why such an event may happen is focused on the lack of a job or defined effort. Some people may see a person begging on the streets and automatically assume that they're being lazy or not doing what it takes to leave their situation. But I want to provide an obvious alternative: people can try their very best and yet still end up in tough places.

For example, the idea that a job will automatically fix one's situation is inherently wrong. When considering California, it's also important to consider who makes up their unhoused population. For a matter of fact, thousands of Californians are at risk of or are homeless despite them actively holding job positions. Meaning that even though they do have a source of income, there still isn't enough money to properly cover the cost of rent in such areas. This problem arises from the idea that rent is not the only thing someone has to worry about: groceries, insurance, gas, and even childcare can deplenish a paycheck way before rent is even considered.

Thus, my focus demographic is going to include part-time/full-time working individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness. While I understand the job holders don't make up the absolute majority of homeless individuals, I do want to consider the logistics behind creating permanent housing. Such housing, in order to sustain itself, truly requires some form of active income that isn't donation based. Although donation based efforts are always appreciated, it can be quite unreliable and lead to a lack of funding. Thus if a place was created that relied on both donations as well as manageable rent, the success rate can be raised.

Reference:

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/30/652572292/working-while-homeless-a-tough-job-for-thousands-of-californians

Now that a specific state and focus demographic has been introduced, it's time to really get down into where this housing situation should even be located, After doing some research, I found out about an interesting area located in California known as Skid Row.

Skid Row is widely known to be overcrowded with camping homeless individuals which may often times give it a bad image. This image can consist of negative views on homelessness, mental illness, drug misuse, and more. However, there will always be more to the area than what meets the eye. People are widely known to be diverse. Diversity is what brings color to life, and helps spread information/beliefs/and overall vibes.

It's important to remember that individuals in California, and everywhere else, tend to be diverse. This fact hold true as America is widely referred to as a melting pot. In other words, cultures mingle and artistic expressions flourish.

A story published by la times describes Skid Row in an almost inspiring way that requires you to look beyond people living in tough times and view them for who they are and not for the situation they've been placed in: "The 50-some blocks east and south of the city center make up one of the most vibrant, social, diverse, interesting and preserved neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles."

Skid Row consists of vendors and artists who help each other and try to create a sense of community amongst all their turmoil. Thus I thought this area would be the perfect place to provide a sense of hope through what I would like to consider a home that fosters community.

Reference:

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-05-13/los-angeles-skid-row

Now, I've talked a little about community and the importance of coming together. These values make up what I believe in thanks to the area I grew up in. The picture located above (https://lakewoodranch.com/event/the-market-5/) depicts one of Lakewood Ranch's common farmer's markets. Many vendors come together to sell something they've created. This can include fresh produce, pastries, clothing, and even art pieces. Thus these amenities have inspired me to promote and provide two community driven practices into this make it home competition:

1. Vendor Booths
2. In the next step, you'll notice that the chosen floor plan consists of numerous sectioned rooms. This is purposeful and not meant for housing. Rather, I thought it would be interesting to include rooms where residents could set up 'shop' and market items that they are trying to sell to others. Not only doing this provide an extra source of income but it also promotes art and community.
3. The logistics behind these vendors are clear. I hope to provide housing to many individuals, and hopefully they want to partake in this community run 'pop-up.' Each resident would be allowed to sign up for one of the booths once every two weeks. In other words, I'm capping how many times a single person can run a booth. This aims to allow anyone and everyone to participate and sell their own good without fear of a monopoly forming. If not enough residents are ready to present their own goods during the daily 'pop-ups' then sign up sheets will be made available (in advance) to non-residents who are hoping to make some cash. The whole idea is that I want everyone to be able to participate and share their passions with the community.
4. Murals
5. Another initiative that I would like to make considers the decoration of the housing complex. As mentioned before, Skid Row is very diverse and consequently includes many artists. The outer edge of the shipping container can be transformed by local artists who would like to share their art and style for the whole neighborhood to appreciate. So, not only does this provide a personal touch to the building but also compensates local artists who may desperately need the funding's.

The first thing I had to consider when bringing this housing unit to life was what would the base look like. As defined above, I produced three different structures that almost built off of each other.

The first structure left barely any booths and was not entirely structurally sound. The second piece allowed for a more open concept while also increasing the amount of possible vendors. The third piece, and vice versa the chosen piece, aimed to improve on the vendors stations by providing openings on both sides so that during night fall the area is kept clean and organized rather than being completely left open as seen in the second structure.

Now, there is most definitely more than just vendor booths making up the base. As the third picture shows, the far wall is sectioned off into three areas. The first room, coming from the left side, is where all of the electronic wires/breaker box/and necessary components will be kept and monitored. The middle room will consist of washers and dryers, acting as a communal laundromat. And finally the last room will act as a stairwell allowing access to the upcoming apartment style homes.

Before I continue, I wanted to make one idea clear. I incorporated communal elements based off of things I've noticed while living in a dorm. Washing stations, kitchens, and even filtered water stations can be very energy consuming. Thus I wanted to create an environment that helped minimize these costs by instead incorporating communal elements. The washing station, as depicted above, is located on the main ground, and almost precisely mimics how I do my laundry every week. Further slides will show a communal kitchen on each floor, and while not depicted a filtered water station would also be located right inside the kitchen area where residents can quickly fill up for water rather than buying numerous plastic water bottles..

One key detail that I wanted to touch on for the idea of solar installation is that I understand how it would be very unlikely to pull all energy for such a largescale project from solar panels lying across the roof. Thus, my main goal is to be realistic while still implementing energy saving features. In other words, an ideal situation would consist of using solar powered energy throughout the day and during cloudy/dark/low energy moments grid connection would be utilized. This flip between solar and grid would be made ideal by the fact that Skid Row is already located inside a city meaning that their infrastructure allows for the connection to LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Power and Water).

Within this physical model I wanted to accurately input realistic elements such as the given wet wall. Waste tubes run throughout both the shower and toilet and connect to a venting tube that will spread to a shared vent shaft leading to continuous ventilation. The white box connected to the blue and red wire is also known as a shower valve box which focuses on water temperatures and properly regulating how one experiences their everyday shower.

Another energy/space saving component is focused on the toilet which was inspired by a greywater recycling system.

As seen in the wet wall installation, only cold water wiring connected to the toilet thanks to the recycling system put in place. The cold water attaches to the sink portion of the toilet where a flush causes the water to pour through the sink, draining through the drain, and vice versa draining into the toilet bowl awaiting the next flush.

Looking back this project has been a very fun process for me as I learned to simplify my designs in TinkerCAD, focusing more on structure rather than miniscule accessories; Additionally, I got to venture out more with my physical model and test what I could make by hand. I always love a project that challenges me and make me question how pieces should fit together/appropriately lay. I also got to try out new methods that I recently learned such as fiber weaving, which while frustrating, was quite accomplishing when finished.

Now that the project has come to an end, I would love to thank Autodesk and Instructables for offering everyone the opportunity to show off their own thoughts and ideas behind affordable and permanent housing situations. I've loved just seeing how everyone interpreted and designed their own ideas, bringing to life creativity and diversity in a community like fashion.

I hope that you've enjoyed looking through my building process just as much as I've enjoyed creating it!