What does the right to housing mean in practice, and how can architects and other urban professionals contribute? […] Below is an excerpt from the gathering in Los Angeles, which was convened by cityLAB UCLA, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design, and the Architecture and Housing Justice Lab.
Adaptive reuse of the Hollywood Downtowner—an aging hotel now owned by the non-profit and youth homeless shelter Covenant House—to a living space for youth transitioning from foster care or homelessness to independent living, is an exemplar of type as well as paradigm of dignity for its residents.
“[…] the built environment must feel ‘composed and deliberate,’ wherein the design language suggests meticulousness as well as care. In this sense, they design such housing projects with an embodied sense of dignity for the sake of the community.” – Nerin Kadribegovic
There’s a certain kind of architect who talks about space in terms of light, form, and proportion—and then there’s Nerin Kadribegovic, who talks about it in terms of dignity.
“Our goal is to change this perception, one project at a time. By projecting light, positivity, and beauty out into the neighborhood, both during the day and at night, the Betty Bazar Community Center gives back not only to those who use it, but also to the community at large.” – Nerin Kadribegovic, FAIA
“The in-between spaces allow for ‘concealed participation in community life’ and help ease the process of integration into what was designed to be a residential community[…]”
“Designed by Los Angeles Based Kadre Architects, the Compton Community Center is modest in scale but profound in intent, an example of how thoughtful design can create dignity and connection in places that have long gone overlooked.” – Aarthi Mohan
One scarf feeds one person from the Hope the Mission kitchen for one week.
“Finding the idiosyncrasies of the building was really challenging because we couldn’t see anything,” Kadribegovic says. They solved this by dividing the project into two contracts, so Kadre’s team could first tear things apart to identify what could be preserved and what needed to be demolished […]”
“The building needed to hold its own on a boulevard where everything is moving fast,” says Nerin Kadribegovic, Kadre’s founder. “It’s unapologetic — a proud part of the neighborhood.”
The Los Angeles fires taught us important lessons about how to build back better.
This new daycare and early childhood education facility will help make the adjacent Woodlands, a former hotel turned transitional housing site for homeless families, into a more holistic service center.
Announced by American Institute of Architects Los Angeles: The suite of awards recognizes individuals and organizations in the LA region whose
work enhances equity, access, and inclusivity.
“We had the idea to use the renovation as an opportunity to transform the entire block by leveraging the community church next door, along with the housing project we’d helped finish,” says Kadre Architects founder Nerin Kadribegovic. “We hope the result demonstrates the transformative power of a single storefront by creating a unifying feature on the block with a distinct sense of community at the street level.”
“The space boasts vaulted ceilings, and bespoke wood creations that climb up the front facade, and hover above the backyard. The interiors are washed in natural light.
“Gesturally and graphically unifying the housing project and the church next door, the modest interior renovation becomes a change catalyst for the entire city block”
#2 Kadre Architects
“For transforming emergency housing into a joyful place to live”
“As many as 43 families, including dozens of children experiencing homelessness, can stay at this newest Homekey site at any given time, getting the help they need to thrive while we work on finding them a permanent place to live.”
“As a new housing prototype, The Sierra explores rapid conversion of existing hotel stock into transitional housing in a rural setting.”
“This product allows people to participate in directly ameliorating the crisis by feeding the needy. Simultaneously, while wearing one of the scarves, they raise awareness of the issue, creating a virtuous cycle.”
Dezeen Awards is an annual awards programme identifying the world’s best architecture, interiors, design and sustainability projects, as well as the studios and the individual architects and designers producing the most outstanding work.
Dezeen Awards is an annual awards programme identifying the world’s best architecture, interiors, design and sustainability projects, as well as the studios and the individual architects and designers producing the most outstanding work.
“The site and desert landscape posed distinct challenges and opportunities in exploring expansion of living space, sustainability and resilience” – Nerin Kadribegovic, FAIA
“The spirit of the place is so important to our psyches; we took it as our mission to not only provide housing but to instill dignity through vibrant colors, playful structures, meditative landscapes and pathways that meander throughout the site. We hope that the resulting recuperative feeling will serve future residents well in their journey out of homelessness”.
‘New Beginnings provides a template for creating dignified, vibrant communities out of ordinary building blocks.’ – Nerin Kadribegovic, FAIA
‘Our aim is to build good, nurturing communities,’ he says with a smile. ‘And right now, I’m hell bent on these affordable adaptive reuse projects. By taking these buildings from blight to bright, we have an opportunity to revitalize our city.’ – Nerin Kadribegovic, FAIA
“This is a really strong start to a new practice with an impressive amount of realized work. They’re leveraging limited resources to enhance public and daily life.”—Stephanie Lin
As a new housing prototype, the Sierra explores rapid conversion of existing hotel stock into transitional housing in a rural setting.
The Sierra introduces 38 new transitional housing units for families currently experiencing homelessness…
“The addition of solar porches — lattice-work structures flanking the existing units — effectively doubles the living area for each family.”
The project opened to residents in March. Kadribegovic says it was at full capacity within two weeks, highlighting the need for family-oriented transitional housing.
“Los Angeles County’s newest Homekey project provides interim housing for nearly 40 families at a time, including a single mother with six children who had lived in their car for months after becoming homeless.”
“Nerin Kadribegovic, the founder of the Los Angeles–based firm Kadre Architects, cannot hide his frustration with the countless obstacles to providing housing for those who need it most urgently.”
“We tried to reduce the weight here by not just providing housing but by instilling dignity through vibrant colors, playful structures, meditative landscape and pathways that meander throughout the site.”
“Kadre Architects began their design of the You ADU by asking some specific questions: How can an ADU enhance a property’s sense of place and add to its value…”
“A new supportive housing concept in Los Angeles has been introduced by LA-based practices Kadre Architects and Lehrer Architects”
The City of Los Angeles unveils a new typology in the City’s emergency response to its housing crisis. Designed by Kadre Architects…
“I am incredibly pragmatic,” the founder of Kadre Architects states. “We’re focused on results and we empathize with the clients.”
Interior Design reveals project and product finalists for the 18th annual Best of Year Awards, honoring innovation in all its forms across the industry.
“The Alvarado has been transformed from a dilapidated, two-star hotel plagued by crime to a beacon of hope and dignity for those in need.”
Congratulations to this year’s winning teams and projects!
HOUSING – WINNER
The Alvarado
“Los Angeles-based Kadre Architects has transformed a run-down motel complex in the San Fernando Valley into a colorful and welcoming residential space for homeless families, especially single mothers.”
“The Woodlands, a motel conversion by local firm Kadre Architects, will provide 100 new units under a California initiative to curb the homelessness crisis.”
The standardized ADU was collaboratively developed by the architects and the city’s Bureau of Engineering, and Building and Safety, aiming to create an affordable and easy-to-permit design that complements existing homes and the neighborhood while incorporating dynamic interior and exterior spaces for indoor/outdoor living…
“LA, and California, are in a housing crisis. The crisis is, in the simplest terms, caused by lack of affordable housing and numerous regulatory obstacles to build new housing. You ADU provides an affordable, easily approved and attractive housing prototype design to Angelenos for FREE.”
“Woodland Hills will now be home to 100 more families. Members from Hope the Mission, Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath cut the ribbon Monday to officially open the Woodlands Family Shelter.”
“Our housing emergency, in the simplest terms, is caused by lack of affordable housing and numerous regulatory obstacles to build new housing. Solutions exist, but we need the public will to realize it.”
Climate Positive Sustainability Award given to the Alvarado (Los Angeles, CA) designed by KADRE Architects
Founded by Nerin Kadribegovic, the firm describes itself as “emerging as a nucleus for interdisciplinary collaborations focused on solving critical issues facing metropolitan urban centers around the world; cities gripped by displaced populations and environmental and/or socio-economic crises.”
As Los Angeles continues to grapple with an extreme homelessness problem, the city is exploring ideas like pre-approved ADU and supportive housing complexes of tiny homes…
California studio Kadre Architects has used bold graphics and vibrant colours to transform a dilapidated motel into The Alvarado, which offers beds for families experiencing homelessness.
Sadie Morgan discusses the shortlist for the forthcoming Davidson Prize, how our cities can help rough sleepers and how good planning can improve every aspect of urban life, from housing to infrastructure. Plus: a look at Los Angeles’s solutions to homelessness.
The Alvarado, a building supported by California’s Project Homekey and Hope of the Mission, offers 43 units of interim housing and supports Newsom’s projection to decrease homelessness in California by 15% by 2025.
“Through his relentless design drive and indomitable forte for dissolving complex obstacles, Nerin Kadribegovic creates breakthrough prototypes for affordable and homeless housing…”
“Just being able to fall asleep! That’s so hard to do when you’re on the streets,” she said.
A wedge-shaped lot adjacent the G Line busway in North Hollywood has been converted into a “tiny home village” by the City of Los Angeles.
The city is struggling with a homelessness crisis, so it was important to get those in need into safe and healthy shelters, which could be the first step on the road to permanent housing.
Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis has been quietly brewing for several years now.
Like so many of the parks in Los Angeles County’s San Fernando Valley, Alexandria Park is little more than a sliver of grassy land along a concrete-lipped wash dotted with picnic tables, the landscaped embankment of a freeway onramp.
Nerin Kadribegovic came to America as a refugee in response to the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. “We were forced to leave our home and were housed abroad with other refugees in a hotel room while we searched for more permanent housing,” he recalls.
Lehrer Architects designed the Aetna Street Bridge Home on a tight timeline and budget while centering values of dignity that’s deep-rooted in the firm’s practice.
This new temporary shelter concept aims to support Los Angeles’ transient and homeless population as a response to the city’s ongoing pandemic and housing crisis
Comprised of 40 prefabs, shared outdoor spaces, and in-house social services, the newly open community is the first of its kind for the city.
Each tiny house is 64 square feet and comes with heat, air conditioning and built-in beds. Each resident is someone who was once a member of the unhoused community. Each village — and there are six in Los Angeles neighborhoods — is designed to help residents take a first step out of homelessness by giving them a home to live in for three to six months.
Lehrer Architects sets a new standard for approachable starter homes in one of the country’s most expensive markets.