Solving Homelessness

Before we go any further, we'd like to make something very clear. We're not making this up. Really. What you're about to review is a completely authentic solution that has been proposed for doing away with homelessness, one homeless person at a time, by artist James Westwater.

His solution? The Homeless Chateau:

Here's how he describes it:

Homeless Chateau is a prefab one-person living module designed to be used inside a building. It is fully self-contained, including cooking and toilet facilities. A rubber flap over the entrance provides privacy, and one end is made from translucent polyethylene to let in natural light. It can be transported flat, erected quickly with just a screwdriver, and moved around the host space on its casters.

Taking a closer look at the picture above, we're impressed by the subtle use of messaging provided by the "No Outlet" and downward pointing "Detour" road construction sign elements to better communicate the negativeness of homelessness to the homeless.

Let's take a look at the inside:

Taking a closer look at the photos, we find that our homeless connoisseur of literature would appear to be enjoying Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows at their bedside.

The other photo reveals the well-stocked pantry, kitchen and toiletry features of the Homeless Chateau, complemented by a book rack, upon which we find the essential reading of the homeless everywhere, Chateaux and Villas (The Worlds of Architectural Digest), *the* guide to potential host spaces for the Homeless Chateau.

Did we say we couldn't make this up?

HT: Core77 (who else?!)