reading response 5

Michael Maltzan’s Crest Apartments

The Michael Maltzan Architecture Studio was made aware of the rising levels of homelessness and poverty in the South California area. They most recently constructed the beautiful, white Crest Apartments in Van Nuys, a small suburb off of Los Angeles, which contains 60 studio apartments for their formerly homeless occupants. This project was supported by Skid Row Housing Trust, which is an organization that provides homes for the homeless, disabled, etc.

The Crest Apartments are 45,000 square feet total which makes for comfortable, permanent apartments for families and singles alike. The building is five stories tall, and stand very tall compared to the other buildings and homes around it. The building’s modern appearance definitely makes it stick out like a sore thumb in the area in which it was built, but is a gift to the homeless who are able to live there, nonetheless.

The apartments were each built with a rectangular design, all varying in length and width, as opposed to having them all constructed using the same block template. This allows for many different types of people to live in these apartments and to create a sense of community and belonging for the residents.

The architects behind this project emphasize their use of the white walls to enhance natural light, and to make areas feel more spacious and clean. But they also wanted to include pops of color here and there, like on these green columns, for example.

All in all, the Crest Apartments have made an outstanding impact on the lives of those who are able to live there, and has set the bar high for future homelessness projects in the future.