The team set out to design a model process that could be repeated by citizens in other cities by documenting their process of research, inquiry and dialogue to identify the needs of the homeless population. “We've been trying-and succeeding, in my opinion-at building a structure with a high quality of craftsmanship and materiality, out of respect for the houseless end users of this project, who don't normally have any contact with any sort of ‘high design.’ ” “We've been out almost every day for the last three or four months, working on wrapping up this project,” Froehlich says of the two-year research, design and build project. The Common Good is “aimed at teaching, connecting and transitioning houseless members of the Eugene community through the construction of a mobile venue for learning, production, storage and community building,” says Alex Froehlich, a 2104 University of Oregon architecture program graduate who spearheaded the project beginning in 2012.
The mobile tool shop was designed and built by The Common Good-initially comprised of designBridge students from the University of Oregon Department of Architecture but now including members of Opportunity Village Eugene.Ībove: Sebastián Oviedo taps in the final fasteners for the roof of the mobile tool shed, which will be introduced to the public Saturday, September 13, at 111 N. The event, which will include workshops on bicycle and dwelling maintenance such as tent repair, will take place Saturday, September 13, at Opportunity Village Eugene, 111 N.
The public is invited to the debut of a mobile tool shop for houseless people needing to make, repair or maintain housing, bicycles, and other personal items.