With a will to end homelessness in Vancouver, Architecture for Humanity is holding a charrette this Saturday (April 17) where six groups of designers will compete to create a viable housing option out of shipping containers (aka Intermodal Steel Building Units).

Although this would serve as only a temporary measure to curb the growth of homelessness in the city, Linus Lam, the executive director of Architecture for Humanity and organizer of Saturday’s Quick Homes Superchallenge (being held at InterUrban Gallery at 1 East Hastings Street) explained to the Straight that the idea is a sensible one.

“Vancouver being a trading post, there are actually a lot of these shipping containers around that are vacant,” he told the Straight by phone. “They are not being used because, for shipping purposes, they have a certain lifespan.”

Of course, any endeavour with a goal as ambitious as ending homelessness is not without its challenges. The most pressing, according to Lam, is getting the public excited about the idea. Janice Abbott, the executive director of Atira, a nonprofit society dedicated to helping vulnerable women, can relate to that notion. She spoke at the charrette’s lecture Thursday about housing in an economy that lacks government funding.

She told the Straight in a phone interview that although she is keeping an open mind about the innovation, she finds the idea of people living in shipping containers “somewhat off-putting.”

Despite this sentiment, Abbott feels she could be swayed by seeing what can be done with the containers.

To overcome what Lam calls “popular preconceptions of shipping containers”, Architecture for Humanity will create a prototype -- a small-scale model -- of the proposed dwellings to get society on board.

Other obstacles are prevalent like zoning, building inspections, and funding, but all those can be ironed-out down the road when people become enthused about the idea, says Lam.

“If people don’t like it, it won’t happen,” he says, while assuring that skeptics will back the proposal once a prototype is created and they can see inside.

Following the charrette, Architecture for Humanity will develop a report to bring to city council that includes each design team’s vision and implementation plan.

Vancouver City Councillor Kerry Jang agrees that public acceptance of the idea is a serious hurdle to overcome, otherwise the report would just have to follow the usual city processes to be realized. Jang will also be speaking at tonight’s lecture about “the needs of Vancouver” and the how-to of building cheaper and faster housing.

“In terms of the homeless problem in Vancouver, the province and city have partnered to create permanent housing, but it has taken a bit of time to get it built,” he told the Straight. “This might be a solution to build some interim housing until the permanent stuff is built.”

He remains guarded, though, about the housing-potential of shipping containers. “First of all they’re ugly,” he says with a laugh, “But can they be configured in a way that’s actually livable?”

And thus the Quick Homes Superchallenge commences in a bid to create cheap, aesthetically pleasing dwellings that arouse public excitement and help the growing number of people with only sky above their heads, find shelter. Let the games begin. Saturday’s charrette and gala run from 9 a.m. until late.