Give Me Shelter documents the work of the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio at the USC School of Architecture and their solutions for tackling the Los Angeles homeless crisis through design, compassion, and humanity. Featuring exclusive content from leaders in the field including Michael Maltzan, Ted Hayes, Betty Chinn, Gregory Kloehn, Skid Row Housing Trust, and many more, the book also contains a foreword by Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles at the time of publication.

Give Me Shelter provides an in-depth look at how design can bridge the gap in services, to speed up the process of getting people off the streets and into housing. In 2015, Los Angeles declared a state of emergency on homelessness. Since then, homelessness has increased dramatically, underscoring how our homeless epidemic is more than a humanitarian crisis; it is a call for action. 

Give Me Shelter tells the story of eleven 4th-year architecture students and their two instructors’ journey through the world of homelessness as they tackle real-world design solutions for emergency stabilization housing. From nomadic and temporary shelters to the city-supported and award-winning Homes for Hope, Give Me Shelter follows the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio and their designs from the encampments, all the way to City Hall.

Give Me Shelter is the culminating effort of the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio, in collaboration with the USC School of Architecture and course work that took place during a 15-week semester in the Fall of 2016. The Homeless Studio project was funded by MADWORKSHOP.

Like the course it outlines, this publication stands as a call to action within both the academic and professional fields of architecture as well as the general public. Documenting the unprecedented collaboration between the studio, community advocates, service providers, City Hall, and the homeless themselves, Give Me Shelter reminds the reader that it doesn’t take a lot to do a lot.