San Francisco by the Data

Contributors

Byungchan Ahn (M.Arch. '21)
George Tsourounakis (M.Arch. '21)

Class

ARCH 5113 Core Design Studio III

Instructors

Martin Miller
Rachel Dickey

In recent years, the median rent value in San Francisco has skyrocketed, becoming one of the most expensive cities in the United States. The median household income has not increased proportionately, causing more people to spend a larger proportion of their income on housing. One of the consequences of this is the prevalence of homelessness as well as evictions due to delinquent payments. Further contributing to housing vulnerability is the willingness for landlords to evict their tenants to sell their property as the real estate value increases, as well as health hazards posed by poor housing quality.

From these sets of data, we can see there are specific neighborhoods that are economically vulnerable to eviction and homelessness. Tenderloin District, at the intersection of Market Street and 8th Street, is home to a high density of violations, encampments, and evictions, but also has a series of institutional buildings that formally symbolize structures of power whose formal language and political power is deconstructed and reappropriated.

Homelessness is a structural issue, of which financial instability is a major contributing factor. Therefore the social focus is “housing vulnerability” and the preventative measures for homelessness are listed in three stages:

1. Income stability
2. Rental assistance and eviction protection
3. Diversion programs

The proposed program set provides a variety of ways of engaging people with different needs, primarily by providing a platform for assistance to both tenants and the vulnerable population.