ANNA SAMSONOV

The triangular site in the Balboa Park neighborhood in San Francisco used to be a depot for light-rail trains but has morphed into a parking lot for residents from adjacent neighborhoods. The site is slated for approximately 100 units of low-income housing; meanwhile, the neighborhood supervisors have proposed using the land as a pilot “Vehicular Navigation Center,” granting limited license for selected populations to live in their vehicles on the grounds. This project envisions a different kind of space where the car becomes a vehicle for social interactions. 

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FRAME(work) is a community space and novel housing typology. It welcomes current or aspiring owners of businesses-on-wheels to park under the FRAME and activate the public space. Above, modular sleeping pods sit snugly - each provides just enough space for comfortable, safe rest. The community center is equipped with necessary amenities for bathing, cooking, and laundry. Its facade is a window wall system with an expanded aluminum rain screen, parts of which are operable to allow the modular pods to be slid in and out. The modular units are able to assume different personalities; within the community center they become changing rooms and saunas.