Abstract
This study questions whether the design of refugee shelters makes them suitable as a ‘home’ for people who have been displaced from their country of origin. This is based on each shelter’s capacity to facilitate the upkeep of a person’s mental and physical health, providing, what is medically considered, a ‘good quality of life’. The paper examines the quality of refugee shelters in two Syrian refugee camps, Za’atari and Kawergosk. The paper limits the investigation to three example shelters in each camp, allowing for an encompassing study of, and comparison between, the individual environments. A criterion for examining the physical facilities (for survival-based functions) derives from quantitative data, while the emotional aspect of ‘home-making’ is derived from accounts of qualitative data in the shelters. Based on the quantitative and quantitative data, the research studied and interpreted the progress chronologically between the shelters and evaluated whether there have been substantial improvements to the living conditions between each shelter type. Throughout the analysis, the paper critically assesses where there are losses between the intentions to design for a good quality of life, the conditions that inhibit these intentions and the resulting physical outputs to refugee camps. The results of the investigation reveal the extent of dissociation between shelter and home in the context of refugee camps, accentuated by the temporary permanence of the camp site.
Presenters
Kayleigh ColganStudent, Masters of Architecture, Queens University Belfast , United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Refugee camps, Shelter, Home, Forced Displacement, Za'atari, Kawergosk
