Trash to treasure: USC architect students build tiny portable house to raise awareness about homelessness

Each small house will cost about $25,000, and the first community will contain 30 units. Mitchell anticipates they will build the community in Sylmar.The house built by the USC students was raffled off to a conference attendee to support the Homes for Hope project.Although the 30-unit community is still a distant reality, students on Friday focused on building one last portable house. Sparks flew as they drilled, and the loud pounding of hammers drew curious conference passersby to their exhibition space.“It’s up. We’ve got some walls,” said artist Greg Kloehn as he watched students drill slabs of wood into place. Kloehn, who oversaw construction of the students’ houses in the fall, has built 60 or 70 small homes made of scrap material in Oakland, where he donates them to homeless people.The student architects said they enjoyed creating the portable houses because they rarely work with their hands in school. Jayson Champlain, 25, said many of his classes have been theoretical — he typically draws designs or constructs models at most. Never before had he built something this large.The students also said they think more about the utility of everyday objects that, at first glance, appear to be junk.Now, Pak considers all the ways discarded materials could fit into the framework of a house. A white board might become a wall; a fridge shelf could make for a good window.“You look at trash differently,” Pak said, noting that a trip through one neighborhood in Los Angeles could provide enough material to build several miniature houses. “We are so wasteful.”To read the article in Spanish, click heremegan.bernhard@latimes.com@meg_bernhard... (Los Angeles Times)