UNDER FLYOVER SOCIAL HOUSING

CONCEPT
EXPERIMENTAL

PERIODE
NA

LOCATE
ANY WHERE UNDER A FLYOVER

As global awareness of sustainability and carbon emissions intensifies, the construction industry—responsible for over 60% of global emissions—faces increasing scrutiny. Steel, in particular, is often perceived as neither environmentally sustainable nor economically viable. At the same time, the industry’s most fundamental responsibility—providing shelter—has been profoundly neglected. Rising homelessness, even in the world’s most developed nations such as the United States, reflects a critical and systemic failure.

This project reframes steel as a sustainable and pragmatic response to homelessness, proposing a modular housing system derived from discarded chain-link mesh—a material frequently sent to landfills due to its lack of resale value in scrap markets. By upcycling this overlooked resource, the design transforms waste into a structural asset.

The proposed housing units are modular, lightweight, and self-build–friendly, enabling assembly by the urban poor with minimal supervision. The chain-link mesh functions as a skeletal framework, providing structural strength and safety. Polycarbonate panels introduce privacy and diffused ambient light, with white entry panels enhancing daylight at the threshold. Operable openings are cut into panels for cross-ventilation, while standardized cement boards or timber panels are easily slotted into place to form floors and roofs. The system eliminates the need for welding or bolting, relying instead on strong metal ties to secure the mesh to outer steel frames.

The units are strategically proposed beneath urban flyovers, addressing one of the major barriers to homeless housing—public resistance to shelter locations. The flyover infrastructure offers built-in protection from extreme weather, while activating residual urban spaces that are often neglected. Units can be stacked, suspended, or clustered to create a dense yet flexible spatial arrangement, forming a vibrant pedestrian corridor at the center, complete with seating and planting pockets.

For safety—particularly for children—the neighborhood is enclosed with mesh fencing that doubles as a framework for shade-tolerant, drought-resistant climbers and shrubs, transforming the undercroft into a green, community-oriented environment. In contrast to the bleakness typically associated with such spaces, the homes are arranged in bold, colorful compositions, creating a lively urban collage beneath the flyovers.

Ultimately, the project positions steel as a socially responsive and environmentally conscious material, demonstrating how adaptive reuse and modular design can address homelessness while simultaneously enhancing underutilized urban infrastructure through a vibrant and humane architectural intervention