halfway house
astoria queens new york

the carceral state in america maintains itself through self-reproducing systems of policing and crime. the prison industrial complex includes prisons and police, and structures that facilitate this cycle: the halfway house.

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halfway house looks to the work of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, where gainful employment is actively linked to prison abolition efforts. by providing jobs in the food industry to previously incarcerated folks, Homeboy Industries operates "the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world." began in 1988, Homeboy Industries works to "1) reduce recidivism, 2) reduce substance abuse, 3) improve social connectedness, 4) improve housing safety and stability, and 5) reunify families."

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the halfway house for astoria designates space for cooking, food sale, and communal eating adjacent to a series of domestic units, each with an attached private garden as buffer zone between the private dwelling and expansive connective space between. operable walls and doors allow for a shifting relationship between these private and public spaces, dictated by inhabitant preference. this architectural intervention serves as economic, social, and spatial support for previously incarcerated folks navigating societal expectation after release from prison. halfway house knits private rooms, communal shared kitchens, and neighborhood in fluctuating configurations.

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