Improving Tiny Homes for the Unhoused

Catalog description

Gov. Gavin Newsom's has promised 1200 tiny homes to help aid the housing crisis in California. Each tiny home costs a minimum of $18,900 to build without plumbing and $48,500 with plumbing. Given that California has an unhoused population of over 180,000, this would put the cost of building a tiny home for every unhoused individual at approximately $3.4 billion, if all the tiny homes didn't have plumbing. This greatly exceeds California's $1.1 billion budget for homeless housing this fiscal year. This course focuses on reducing the cost of tiny homes through systematic design iterations. The course will begin with students learning core design principles and engaging with simulations, personal stories from community members, and hypothetical scenarios to encourage empathy and understanding of the unhoused population. The main deliverable for this course will be a design-based course project. Students, in groups of four, will focus on reducing the cost of a specific tiny home component (appliances, outside material, insulation, etc.), either by finding alternative products or by proposing the development of a new product from available research. Concurrently, students will engage with and receive feedback from community members (advocacy groups, policy makers, etc.) to discuss on their design's feasibility and implementation in local communities. At the end of the quarter, students will present their final design to both class and community members. This course requires no prior knowledge of design practices in engineering and is intended for anyone interested in improving tiny home availability for the unhoused. By taking this course, students will learn basic design iteration techniques and apply them to unique and pressing problems present in everyday life. This is a Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service.