#HTE

Gregory Kloehn Turns Construction Waste Into Livable Shelters for the Homeless

If there are two things American cities have a seemingly endless supply of, it’s homeless people and trash. Now someone has figured out how to turn one into a positive for the other.

It’s been five years since we looked in on Gregory Kloehn, the man we jokingly referred to as a cross between Jay Shafer and Oscar the Grouch. To refresh your memory, Kloehn had embarked on an experiment to convert a dumpster into a livable home, complete with kitchen and toilet.

In the half-decade since, the Oakland-based artist has been documenting “homeless architecture,” the makeshift dwellings that the homeless improvise out of found materials. Inspired by what he found, Kloehn began scouring sites in Oakland where unscrupulous contractors typically dump their construction waste; after sifting through it, Kloehn harvests the usable materials and turns them into tiny homes for the homeless.

That video was shot last year, and a subsequent article in The New York Times indicates that Kloehn has built “about 40” of the tiny homes in total. He was also formerly holding workshops on his process in Oakland, prior to losing his shop space, and it does not appear that they have been restarted; the website for Kloehn’s Homeless Homes Project has been quiet as of late, with no updates.

Kloehn, if you’re reading this and still active, please do get in touch and let folks know how they can get involved.