Friday, October 12, 2012

Disaters and Economies



Disasters and Economies
By Brad Hoepfner
        There are many types of disasters that occur all across the earth.  The natural disasters, such as, massive earthquakes causing widespread destruction, hurricanes invoking strong winds and flooding, droughts, and many more can all harm the human race in significant ways ways. The disasters we don’t hear about on the news as often are the economic disasters that plague the world.
         We have all heard of the great stock market crash leading into the great depression that lead to one of the worst periods of time for the American population. Now, the term economic collapse has been coined to describe a range of economic conditions that we are afflicted by every day including, prolonged depression, extremely high unemployment rates and the overwhelming amount of homeless people within our nation.
        Current families across the US think of affordable homes as being within the $100,000 - $250,000 range. I think these numbers are ridiculously high, the majority of people working for close to minimum wage could never hope to afford one of these homes. And many people that do buy into these homes end up having the bank foreclose on the home because they cannot make the payments.
        As an architecture student, I believe that we need to create a system that looks into the prevention of becoming homeless using affordable homes. I heard about Auburn University’s Rural Studio, which is an architecture design-build program, which allows only 4 students a year into it. One of their previous and ongoing projects is the creation of the $20,000 home. It deals with the question: what kind of house can be designed for $10,000 in building materials when the other $10,000 for labor and profit. This program helps rural residents who have a low or even a modest income and are unable to obtain adequate housing through conventional financing. They are passionate about spreading the idea of how realistic low incoming housing strategies are being used to help social change. These homes provide many opportunities for designers and homeowners alike and are a great idea to press on with.

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