Barnacle Shelters

• Twenty-three homeless shelter pods barnacled to the side of a railroad station in Marseilles, France
• Architect and former graffiti artist Stéphane Malka seeks out these neglected armpits of cities' public space and transforms them into light, flexible, emergency housing
• He calls the process "architectural kama sutra" because of the unorthodox positioning of the structures next to, above, or below traditional buildings and city elements
• Putting up the structure in September was also part of Malka's strategy. "In France, there's a rule saying in wintertime, you can't take someone out of housing," Malka explains 
• Meant to protect low- and middle income workers from being pushed out of housing and into the suburbs by obscene rent increases, recently passed laws now guarantee that most renters won't end up on the streets during the coldest months