Jessica Leber ~ See The Homeless Housing You Might Mistake For Luxury Condos

2010 Brook – Gorlin Architects

Housing for the homeless is not usually a place associated with sleek design. But the photos you see here all indicate otherwise.

The buildings are all run by Common Ground, a nonprofit that does the difficult work of trying to get the chronically homeless off of the New York City streets and into permanent homes. Since Common Ground opened its first 652-unit supportive housing residence in Times Square in 1991, it has been unique in its embrace of design and architecture as important elements of its work, right next to the services it provides.

“The message that we want to get across to people that have been dismissed and really have been isolated from society for years at a time is: ‘you matter’ and ‘you’re valued’ and ‘you should take pride in yourself,” says Common Ground CEO Brenda Rosen. “To that end, having a physical environment that you feel proud of goes a long way.”