Penn class builds with community in mind

A Penn project to build houses may build bridges, as well.

Last year, 18 Architecture students participated in a studio design class led by Architecture professors Richard Wesley and Ali Malkawi in which they designed residential units for six formerly homeless women and their families as part of the Bernice Elza Homes project.

And the professors hope that this project will aid Penn's relations with the nearby Mantua neighborhood.

Mantua residents "have seen Penn as a high institution that wants their land and wants to expand," according to Wesley.

But the relationship between Penn and Mantua may be thawing.

The efforts of the University's Architecture Department, in addition to those of local and national organizations, is intended to make uneasy relations a thing of the past.

Penn's undergraduate Architecture program is "based on a concept of 'whole' architecture," which seeks to take economic constraints and social issues into account, Wesley said.

He added that the real world is the only place students can learn how architecture affects those who interact with it.

The students who designed the Bernice Elza Homes received professional support from Blackney Hayes Architects principal John Fox Hayes and over $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Because construction at 38th and Brandywine streets is set to begin in February and will not be completed until November of next year at the earliest, the application process for those seeking to live in these houses has not yet opened.

However, specific criteria for potential residents have already been determined.

"One member of the family . has to have special needs, which is a mental or physical illness, or prior drug or alcohol abuse" to qualify, said Kira Strong, project manager for the People's Emergency Center Community Development Corporation, which is developing the initiative.

The Center facilitated dialogue between students and the local community to give them a sense of the unique challenges they would be facing.

It will also continue to work with families after they have moved in, providing a variety of services, including health care and job assistance.

Hayes said fitting such programs into a fixed budget requires a "fresh look at the issues surrounding the building of affordable housing in Philadelphia."

He explained that the project therefore incorporates natural lighting, ventilation and other measures intended to reduce energy costs.

According to Hayes, there is a pending application to the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to install solar panels that would further reduce energy costs.

Wesley said the project has "transformed the way Mantua views our University."

As an indication of the program's success, he said, community leaders approached the University with a list of 22 more sites, and "they want us to do housing for all 22."

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