Living on the Edge: Poverty, Pipes and the Question of Home
(2025) AAHM10 20251Department of Architecture and Built Environment
- Abstract
- In the rush of urban growth, a fractured reality unfolds in Metro Manila, Philippines: one side is a booming, ever-evolving metropolis, while the other is a flood of migrant workers, the unemployed, and the homeless. Slums have even become a luxury few can afford, where even securing a place to live means waiting in line.
When slums are a dream out of reach, and space for survival is stretched to the limit, people turn to pipes, containers and cardboards. It’s cramped, dark, and crowded, yet it holds all — family, friends, and everything.
This design envisions a space-making device, using low-cost, reclaimed materials to create a “Home” for the homeless population in the Philippines that living in pipes and, perhaps later,... (More) - In the rush of urban growth, a fractured reality unfolds in Metro Manila, Philippines: one side is a booming, ever-evolving metropolis, while the other is a flood of migrant workers, the unemployed, and the homeless. Slums have even become a luxury few can afford, where even securing a place to live means waiting in line.
When slums are a dream out of reach, and space for survival is stretched to the limit, people turn to pipes, containers and cardboards. It’s cramped, dark, and crowded, yet it holds all — family, friends, and everything.
This design envisions a space-making device, using low-cost, reclaimed materials to create a “Home” for the homeless population in the Philippines that living in pipes and, perhaps later, containers and cardboards. Gains a deeper understanding of a day in the life of homeless people— to explore what 'Home' means to them, what functions it must fulfill, and what emotional needs it should support.
Based on origami structures and prepared for a nomadic existence. It can be taken with them until they find their permanent home. It is portable, lightweight, and easy to carry — but still, it retains warmth and dignity, offering a semblance of home amidst instability."
By addressing the unique challenges faced by the homeless in urban Philippine settings, this project explores how architectural design can serve as a transformative tool—creating dignified, adaptable, and humane living environments that contribute to improving conditions for society’s most vulnerable. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9212092
- author
- Wang, Li LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- AAHM10 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Homeless, slum, luxury, pipe, space-making device, reclaimed, home, emotional needs, origami-based, nomadic, portable
- language
- English
- id
- 9212092
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-10 12:24:53
- date last changed
- 2025-09-10 12:24:53
@misc{9212092,
abstract = {{In the rush of urban growth, a fractured reality unfolds in Metro Manila, Philippines: one side is a booming, ever-evolving metropolis, while the other is a flood of migrant workers, the unemployed, and the homeless. Slums have even become a luxury few can afford, where even securing a place to live means waiting in line.
When slums are a dream out of reach, and space for survival is stretched to the limit, people turn to pipes, containers and cardboards. It’s cramped, dark, and crowded, yet it holds all — family, friends, and everything.
This design envisions a space-making device, using low-cost, reclaimed materials to create a “Home” for the homeless population in the Philippines that living in pipes and, perhaps later, containers and cardboards. Gains a deeper understanding of a day in the life of homeless people— to explore what 'Home' means to them, what functions it must fulfill, and what emotional needs it should support.
Based on origami structures and prepared for a nomadic existence. It can be taken with them until they find their permanent home. It is portable, lightweight, and easy to carry — but still, it retains warmth and dignity, offering a semblance of home amidst instability."
By addressing the unique challenges faced by the homeless in urban Philippine settings, this project explores how architectural design can serve as a transformative tool—creating dignified, adaptable, and humane living environments that contribute to improving conditions for society’s most vulnerable.}},
author = {{Wang, Li}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Living on the Edge: Poverty, Pipes and the Question of Home}},
year = {{2025}},
}