Welcome to the Montana State University Farmworker Housing Studio

Welcome to the Montana State University Farmworker Housing Studio

This blog is a collection of design research done by graduate students at the Montana State University School of Architecture who are looking at farmworker housing shortages in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. The studio is being assisted by the Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing and the Catholic Charities Housing Services in Yakima, and will include input from the UN-Habitat Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch. The studio prompt is to study the relationships between infrastructure and infill, home and place, mobility and permanence, boundaries and community. What kind of infrastructure is required for different kinds of farmworkers in the USA? Can this infrastructure perform technically, socially, economically, and poetically? What are the tectonics of home, the architecture of economics, and how can design facilitate better living conditions for these communities? In short, how does mass-housing become mass-homing?

Our goal is to take advantage of our academic setting to offer new ideas and approaches to a persistent challenge. With this in mind, we aspire to imagine diverse approaches to affordable farmworker housing that perform optimally for its users' diverse values, interests and desires. We welcome your feedback so please leave comments, suggestions and ideas.

For direct questions or comments please contact David Fortin at david.fortin@montana.edu or at 406-994-7579.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Education Demographics




In Yakima County, the amount of education a person has received is divided severely between migrant farm workers and the other residents of the county.  Within the migrant farm worker demographic, there are high rates of English illiteracy and very few people who have succeeded in the formal education system. 

Lack of education and illiteracy are serious obstacles for people working to improve their quality of life.  An immediate solution to a housing shortage would be to provide housing for people.  However, this doesn't address the deeper issues of why people are unable to provide housing for themselves.  In the long term, eliminating educational inequalities could mediate the housing crisis.  


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