PROJECT IN PROGRESS: REVEALING MANHATTAN’S STUDENT HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

Columbia University GSAPP

Core Studio II

Critic Esteban de Backer Partner project with Claire Navin Spring 2023

Ccurrently in development for a Spring 2023 studio course, this project began with an examination of the Elmer Bobst Library, NYU’s iconic campus library. During the 2003-04 school year, an NYU sophomore, nicknamed “Bobst Boy,” took shelter in the library because he was unable to afford student housing or off-campus rent. My partner and my exploration of the Bobst Boy’s story, depicted in the section perspective drawings of buildings he frequented and in corresponding call -out illustrations, triggered an investigation into the broader, arguably more pressing issue of homelessness among NYC’s K-12 public school students. In the background of the drawing, circles represent the number of homeless students at Manhattan school disitricts where the overall rate of student homelessness is over 20 percent. Meanwhile, extruded buildings indicate real estate owned by private educational institutions, including primary, secondary, and higher ed.

Diagram drawing | I was responsible for the call-out illustrations, two out of four section perspectives, and the collection of data pertaining to student homelessness in NYC.

Physical model | Conceptual model tracing an NYC 4th grader’s daily commute from a homeless shelter to school and back; spatializes the disruption of the relationship between home and school for student’s experiencing housing instability. Completed independently.