Architecture of Transience: Developing Communities for Migrant Farm Workers

Migrant farm workers are an economically disadvantaged group who perform labor-intensive work for long hours in the fields. The housing available to migrant workers in the United States is typically substandard and limited in availability. Housing is usually provided by a grower or acquired by the migrant worker away from the farm. The housing available to migrant farmworkers provides little support for their families.

This study investigates strategies for developing community in transient situations. Transient populations, such as migrant farmworkers, are constantly on the move, and are ungrounded. Communities provided transient populations with rootedness and a sense of belonging. Communities will also allow transient individuals to become engaged in a social setting. This study creates an architectural intervention that can provide support for the creation of community in transient situations.