Casa Familiar, San Ysidro, CA, U.S.

San Ysidro, California, United States

Casa Familiar is a neighborhood conceived as a producer of new housing policy and economy. It is designed to provide a new type of affordable housing and stimulate political, economic, and social transformation.

Size:

Indeterminate; two small-scale projects.

Dates:

2001 - present.

Project Team:

Casa Familiar Community Development Agency; Studio Teddy Cruz (director of design).

Performance levels achieved:

Standard
Good
Better
Living
Regenerative

Place
Limits to Growth
Food
Habitat
Transportation

Water

Energy

Health + Happiness
Civilized Environment
Neighborhood Design
Biophilia
Resilient Connections

Materials
Material Plan
Embodied Energy & Carbon
Waste

Equity
Neighborhood & Access
Access to Nature
Access to Community Services
Investment

Beauty
Inspiration

Goals & Strategies:

Place

Food

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Not reported.

Habitat

Goals: Redefining density as an amount of social exchanges per acre; redefining housing as a system of economic and cultural interactions.

Strategies: Elements of the site made available for injecting specific collective programming to support informal economies and social organization. The church, social rooms, collective kitchens, and community gardens are the small infrastructure for housing.

Transportation

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Not reported.

Water

Water

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Not reported.

Energy

Energy

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Not reported.

Health + Happiness

Equity

Goals: 100% affordable units. Community involvement on all fronts: education, economics, public art, politics, urbanism, and architecture.

Strategies: Not reported.

Materials

Materials

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Building reuse.

Waste

Goals: Not specified.

Strategies: Not reported.

Download Case Study (PDF)

Sources: Small Scale, Big Change

*Note: This case study was developed using found information.