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Session Guide

FRI-C10: Unhoused, Unseen: The (In)visibility of Homelessness in “Public” Space

Friday, October 10, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM CT
Location: New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 211-213
1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AIA/HSW, AICP, NY/HSW, FL

Codified spatial regulations criminalize one’s ability to live while unhoused. This research explores how social exclusion moves beyond the design of the physical realm to the design of data that determines policy. By exposing these invisible frameworks, we challenge who is recognized, receives support, and remains unseen in our landscapes.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Broaden perspectives of urban homelessness and gain understanding of how to incorporate empathetic approaches that center lived experiences into design practice.
  • Learn how codified spatial regulations, and the “public” spaces we design within them, disproportionately target and criminalize unhoused individuals.
  • Explore how designers can use their skillsets and agency to engage urban ecosystems beyond the built environment via policy discussions, resource networks, and data systems.
  • Discover methods for how multidisciplinary research and data analysis can be successfully incorporated to influence design practice and expand beyond traditional design work.