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The Role of Architecture in Easing Displacement Trauma

Michael Montes03 mins

Architecture and the Refugee Crisis

Sean Anderson discusses how architecture can help redefine the refugee crisis.

The Role of Architects in Shaping Narratives

Architects and designers worldwide are fundamentally changing perceptions regarding the plight of migrants and refugees.

Architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello have been traveling along the U.S.-Mexico border since 2009, actively collecting memories and stories from the places and individuals they encounter.

Exploring the Mexico-USA ‘Barrier’

Architects such as Rael San Fratello have long surveyed the Mexico-USA 'barrier' as a complex site for the questioning of its utility and economy.
Architects such as Rael San Fratello have long surveyed the Mexico-USA ‘barrier’ as a complex site for questioning its utility and economy.

Interactive Narratives of Refugee Life

One such project is Refugee Republic, an interactive website created by Dutch designers Submarine Channel, focusing on everyday life in Domiz Camp, a Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq.

The website takes you into the world behind the relief organization posters.
The website takes you into the world behind the relief organization posters. The makers visited Camp Domiz in northern Iraq, where around 64 thousand predominantly Kurdish Syrian refugees have sought shelter.

Understanding Refugee Care

Although camps are designed as temporary solutions, worldwide refugees remain dependent on some form of relief care for an average of 17 years.

On the Refugee Republic website, you can explore the camp through various artistic mediums.
On the Refugee Republic website, explore the camp through the pen drawings of an artist, the lens of a photographer, and the ears of a radio producer.

Visual Documentation of Refugee Experiences

Photographer Henk Wildschut has documented the makeshift refugee camp in Calais, France, capturing the rise and fall of this community through striking images.

Henk Wildschut's photos showcase the rise and fall of the refugee camp in Calais.
Henk Wildschut’s photos illustrate the dynamic nature of the makeshift refugee camp in Calais over a period of three months.
The Dutch photographer has been documenting settlements in Calais.
“The Dutch photographer Henk Wildschut has been documenting impromptu settlements in Calais, France, with startling images that speak to the resiliency of peoples,” notes Anderson.

The Ongoing Crisis in Calais

Nearby, in the heart of democratic Europe, refugees from Africa and the Middle East remain for years, awaiting their chance to cross to the UK. This struggle is powerfully illustrated in numerous photographs.

The Jungle has taken on the shape of a city over time.
“The Jungle,” as it is nicknamed, has gradually taken on the form of a city. Authorities began its dismantling on 29 February 2016.


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