Invasion Housing

As the economic conditions of cities have chosen to favor capital interests over egalitarian needs, low-income communities have been displaced for the benefit of stakeholders. Hyper-development of trendy business models and unaffordable housing have forced residents to give up their agency, resulting in them being stripped from their habitats. How can design reclaim the lost lands in a gentrified urban context?

Sunset Junction in the city of Los Angeles provides an opportunity to explore how design can be used as a form of resistance against inequity in affordable housing.
By taking advantage of the low density of LA relative to other cities, this thesis proposes to eliminate five lanes of traffic and occupy that territory with housing, local businesses, and promenades. Selected unoccupied lots will be filled with lightweight parts that can be freely moved around to meet individual and communal needs. The proposal therefore serves as a prototype to be deployed in neighborhoods with similar infrastructures and patterns of displacement.