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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