Balboa Park: Housing Campus

The Sage Project at San Diego State University was commissioned to look at opportunities for the potential development of a housing shelter in Balboa Park. Students of the Howard Blackson III’s City Planning 700 Urban Design and Land Use Planning Studio course applied design standards they learned throughout the semester into developing a campus consisting of housing as well as amenities to benefit the residents. Each group had their own take on how to structure the campus. The students hope to provide ideas for a campus design to house those in need with dignity. There were two potential locations within the park, Inspiration Point as well as the City Yard. Each group decided on a location they saw as a best fit and had the freedom to create a blueprint for a campus with any design and amenities they saw as beneficial. Each group also developed their own philosophies to guide how they wanted their shelter to operate. While it was important to design campuses that were aesthetically pleasing, it was just as important to create a welcoming environment that could truly feel like home to those most in need. The only guidelines the groups were given was to create a campus that could provide shelter for around 500 people, and to create an environment where people could be temporarily housed with dignity and the possibility to help them gain more permanent stability. There are five groups’ work presented in this report, first sharing the thoughts and ideas that guided each group through the campus, as well as the site plans, and various cross sections and different aspects of each of the campuses. Combining the knowledge learned throughout the course, research on other campuses in various states, and the desire to help improve the lives of many, these campus communities were created.