Amherst resident, Morrisville State College student participates in homeless shelter project

Homeless shelters made by students in Morrisville State College's Architectural Studies and Design and Landscape Architectural Studies programs will be on display in March in the Winner Gallery at the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.

Architectural studies and design student Christopher Goodsell of Amherst is one of 23 students to participate in creating the exhibit. The shelters were created for a class project that addressed homelessness and the architecture of shelter.

The project required students to design an architecturally pleasing shelter that addressed the issues of sustainability, social responsibility and leadership. Teams researched rural homelessness before they built their shelters.

Staying within a specific budget, teams were challenged to build low-cost shelters intended to protect one individual from the elements.

Students tapped into their creativity to build the shelters, some using donated and recycled materials and used items to remain within their $75 budget.