Healing and Reintegrating in the City: Urban Infill as a Sanctuary for Jane Doe

The sex trafficking industry is not only a social justice issue, but also an architectural issue. In the same urban fabric where people live, work, and socialize, victims of commercial sex trafficking live in the shadows, work in obscure environments, and isolate themselves from others. National and local resources in mental care, job training, and legal support fail to provide a holistic place of refuge for these displaced individuals. Current shelters that specifically serve sexually exploited victims also face limitations in their presence in urban neighborhoods, long-term availability, and types of living arrangements.

With a specific socioeconomic climate and disparity in San Francisco, Bayview presents itself as an opportune place to provide refuge for both survivors of sexual exploitation and the low-income community. Even as a distressed neighborhood, its ethnic diversity and existing infrastructure would create a foundation for survivors to heal and reintegrate into a resilient community. At an urban scale, ecological infrastructures provide environmental revitalization from rising sea levels and economic restoration of industries significant to the neighborhood's historical identity. The architectural intervention focuses specifically on female survivors of sexual exploitation, ranging from youth to mothers with children, and how they would heal together and reintegrate into the community.

Hand stitching is an integral part of this project's design process. It is a drawing medium that reflects the physical engagement through a meditative activity. It is also a visual language used to formulate spatial sequences, patterns, and movement. The mixed-use urban infill weaves in sanctuaries to heal as an individual, as a camaraderie, and along with the greater community. Residents dwell in the permanently supported community housing, where they mend bodies, hearts, and relationships in the home. Other survivors are welcomed into the drop-in facility, which provides initial resources like hygienic care and counseling. Retail spaces along the main corridor are programmed to create a synergetic seam between residents and their opportunities to participate in the neighborhood. Interior and exterior thresholds throughout the building interlace the duality of veiled and transparent spaces. This cohesive spatial journey would bind wounds, foster resiliency into the urban ecosystem, and ultimately be reconciled to a dignified home, workplace, to social environment.