Archinect - News

IKEA Foundation supports Better Shelter’s deployment of 5,000 modular shelters in response to earthquake in Turkey and Syria

2023-02-24T11:34:00-05:00

Swedish nonprofit Better Shelter has announced the provision of 5,000 emergency shelters in Turkey following the major earthquake that has so far killed over 47,000 people across the country and neighboring Syria. The shelters were made possible through a EUR 10 million (approximately USD 10.5 million) donation by the IKEA Foundation.

Better Shelter's modular units deployed in Hatay, Turkey after the recent earthquake. Image credit: Alaaddin Seyitisa for Better Shelter

“The generous support provided by the IKEA Foundation will give crucial protection to many thousand people in this difficult time,” said Better Shelter’s managing partner Johan Karlsson in a statement. “We are proud to support our humanitarian partners in Syria and Türkiye working day and night to help survivors. We now ask businesses to step forward and join our efforts to support even more people who have lost everything.”

Better Shelter's modular units deployed in Hatay, Turkey after the recent earthquake. Image cre...

Turkey issues arrest warrants for building designers in the wake of deadly earthquake

2023-02-13T16:42:00-05:00

Arrest warrants have been issued in Turkey in response to the devastating earthquake that killed more than 34,000 people across the shared border with Syria last Monday.

The BBC writes that a total of 113 warrants were issued to individuals within the country, reportedly including architects, engineers, and building contractors, over their supposed role in constructing the more than 25,000 buildings which failed or were damaged during the magnitude 7.8 tremor and subsequent aftershocks.

The country’s Vice President, Fuat Oktay, also announced the establishment of ten special investigative units spread throughout Turkey’s most impacted provinces. The punitive process comes after years of so-called amnesties for contractors that were granted, in some cases, to provide for housing construction in waves and most recently before the 2018 general election.

Previously on Archinect: Devastating 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria

In an essay for the Sunday Times, journalis...

Turkey’s outdated building codes exacerbated earthquake destruction

2023-02-10T12:23:00-05:00

Why did so many buildings fall down? [...] [Alanna Simpson] says the building codes in Turkey were updated again in 2018. But the country's "legacy buildings" are still vulnerable, and that goes for much of the rest of the world, too, she says. "It's a global problem."

Of the more than 3,000 Turkish structures destroyed by Monday’s devastating earthquake, experts say the majority were concrete and masonry infill constructions built before Turkey updated its building codes in the wake of the 1999 İzmit earthquake that killed 17,000. A 2018 construction amnesty on 75,000 new buildings put even more people at risk.

The next quake could yield even more damage, as the Associated Press reported some 13 million apartments are not in compliance with modern standards.

The New York Times has a case study from one badly affected city here.

Devastating 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria

2023-02-06T18:25:00-05:00

Reactions are pouring in following the devastating 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria early Monday morning.

There are no estimates available yet as to the number of structures either collapsed or damaged across the region, but a minimum of 3,400 lives have been lost as a result of the quake and a wave of very powerful aftershocks as concerns grow about both governments' ability to organize civil response efforts in the most impacted regions.

Building collapses have been reported in almost every community near the epicenter. Infrastructure damage appears to be significant as well.

Seismologists say the tremors that rocked Turkey and Syria are likely to be some of the deadliest this decade. Here is what scientists say happened beneath the earth's surface and what to expect in the aftermath https://t.co/vf37HkXHxQ pic.twitter.com/Tu3Kl76wxG
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 6, 2023

Turkey’s largest professional organization for architects and engineers, Türk Mü...

Zaha Hadid Architects designs collection of emergency shelters for displaced communities

2022-12-20T11:20:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a collection of tents to be used as schools, clinics, and emergency shelters for displaced communities. The 27 tents, constructed with the support of the Education Above All Foundation, have been donated to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the Qatar Red Crescent.

Photo credit: Luke Hayes

Described by the ZHA team as a “robust, cost-effective, and lightweight modular architectural system,” the weatherproof structures are designed to be easily moved and re-assembled, with components that can be upcycled or recycled. Supported by a curving steel frame clad with fabric, the internal environment offers an open-plan layout lit by diffuse natural light.

Photo credit: Luke Hayes

Before the donation, the tents were being utilized as schools for hundreds of displaced Pakistani children in Pakistan, and Syrian children in Turkey. In their new capacity, ten tents donated to the IOM will serve as schools in Turkey and Yemen, while five will ...

Ancient Roman mosaic discovered in former rebel hideout in Syria

2022-10-17T13:47:00-04:00

A massive Roman mosaic was unearthed in Syria, marking what some experts said was the most important archaeological discovery in the country in the last 20 years. The mosaic was found in the town of Rastan, outside Homs, Syria’s third largest city. Rastan was an important stronghold of anti-government forces and saw some of the fiercest clashes between the Syrian military and rebels. The region, which is rich in cultural heritage, was retaken by the Syrian government in 2018.

As reported by ARTnews, the mosaic was discovered within a site that dates back to the 4th century CE. Syria’s General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums had been excavating the location. The mosaic spans around 1,300 square feet, with each panel fashioned with small colorful stones that depict a rare portrayal of the Amazon warriors in Roman mythology. Also included are scenes from the Trojan War and a depiction of the Roman god of the sea, Neptune, along with 40 of his mistresses.

This is the first major excavation effort in Rastan since Syria’s civil war began in 2011. With only a section of the mosaic discovered, it’s presumed that it extends far wider and that other heritage sites and artifacts are present in the area. This is a significant finding, especially due to how the country’s armed conflict inundated Syrian heritage sites, many of which have been pillaged or destroyed. Most notable was the ravaging of UNESCO World Heritage Site Palmyra under ISIS control.

...

The first architecture photography

2019-07-02T13:51:00-04:00

Shortly after the invention of photography, there was architecture photography. Generous natural lighting, a range of scalable details and a pride of place made architecture a primary subject in the understanding of photographic technology during the first half of the 19th century.

Paris' Boulevard du Temple (1839). Photo by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre.

The Daguerreotype was among the first photographic methods when it was invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in 1839. An image of Paris' Boulevard du Temple taken by Daguerre in the same year is famous for being the first photograph of a person (visible near the lower left corner), but it is also among the first known photographs of an urban scene. Because the photo required a long exposure lasting several minutes, the traffic is rendered invisible while the buildings are reproduced in great detail, allowing them to become the primary focus.

Tuileries Palace (1841). Photo by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey.

Cathédrale Notre-D...

War-damaged Palmyra prepares to welcome back tourists by summer 2019

2018-08-28T13:54:00-04:00

The ancient city of Palmyra in Homs, Syria, which was severely damaged by the extremist group Isis, is set to have its artefacts restored and be ready for tourism next summer, Syrian government says. “The authorities now have a project to repair all the damage caused to Palmyra's Old City,” say the Homs' provincial governor Talal Barazi [...]. “There are also good offers from the world powers to restore the artefacts and historical value of Palmyra. [...]"

First seized and severely damaged by ISIS militants in the spring of 2015, then briefly retaken under Syrian government control, recaptured again in December 2016 and eventually freed four months later, the ancient architectural treasures of Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site, have suffered great destruction in recent years—called even a "war crime" and "blow against cultural heritage" by Unesco's director general Irina Bokova in 2017.

Q&A: Syria’s New Property Law

2018-05-29T16:30:00-04:00

If an owner fails to make a claim within the 30-day period or the claim fails, the property reverts to the province, town, or city of the redevelopment zone and the owner is not compensated. There is no right to appeal.

"The Syrian government is poised to confiscate and redevelop residents’ property without due process or compensation under a new property law, Law No. 10 of 2018. The law, which the government is promoting as an urban planning measure, will create a major obstacle to returning home for displaced residents."

In other words, what's yours might now be Bashar al-Assad's.

Or, you might say, "what's left there anyway?"

Syria Matters exhibition to document the destruction of country’s cultural heritage

2018-04-25T13:48:00-04:00

The destruction of Syria’s heritage over the past eight years is the subject of a significant show due to open at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Doha later this year. The exhibition, entitled Syria Matters (opens 23 November), aims to explore the country’s centuries-old “extraordinary cultural heritage” against the backdrop of the raging conflict that has seen the destruction of six Unesco world heritage sites under President Bashar al-Assad.

Training refugees to conserve their monumental heritage

2018-03-20T15:43:00-04:00

The problems: how to conserve extraordinary monumental heritage in Iraq and Syria [...]. The issue is exacerbated by the depletion of skilled craftspeople; once the dust of conflict settles, there will be few able to carry out restoration. At the same time, thousands sit in refugee camps, lives on hold, seeking a future. The solution: train refugees to become the craftspeople and conservators of the future. Give them a skill to help restore their nation’s heritage.

Photo: World Monuments Fund.

Learn more about the World Monuments Fund’s new stone masonry training center for Syrian refugees in Mafraq, Jordan (backed by the UK government’s Cultural Protection Fund) here.

Ancient Syrian Ain Dara temple severely damaged in Turkish airstrike

2018-01-31T14:49:00-05:00

Much of the magnificent 3,000-year-old temple of Ain Dara, with its mysterious and massive footprints and a structure that provides clues for understanding the biblical temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, has been destroyed in a Turkish airstrike. [...] Photos and video from the Syrian Observatory and Hawar News confirm that more than half of the temple is gone, including many of the sculptures that ringed the site.

"The temple, one of the largest and most extensively ancient excavated structures in Syria," National Geographic reports, "is famous for its intricate stone sculptures of lions and sphinxes, and for its similarities to Solomon’s Temple—the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem, said to have held the Ark of the Covenant."

Future Aleppo: Syrian boy builds model of his hometown, now on display in Los Angeles

2017-08-11T09:00:00-04:00

A Syrian boy hand-built a model of what his hometown might look like after the country’s civil war, and now “Future Aleppo” is on display in Los Angeles. [...] As he watched his city get demolished, Mohammed carefully crafted his vision for a future Aleppo using paper, wood, colored pencils, and glue. He lovingly recreated destroyed landmarks, like the medieval Citadel and his favorite park, and added imaginary, forward-looking buildings and design features [...].

"While much of his model was destroyed when Mohammed and his family fled to Turkey, the surviving portion was brought to the U.S. by Alex Kalman, founder of Mmuseumm, a pop-up gallery in Manhattan."

KCRW's Design & Architecture host, Frances Anderton, talks to Kalman about the model's adventurous journey from Aleppo via Turkey to New York and how Mohammed's story represents both "the worst in humanity, as well as the best in humanity."

Anderton also interviews young Syrian architect Marwa Al-Sabouni (previously on Archinect), who's hometown Homs — the country's third largest city — suffered immense destruction and human suffering. Her book The Battle for Home: The Vision of a Young Architect in Syria will be out in September.

Eyal Weizman uses architectural evidence to investigate bombings in Syria

2017-08-09T15:22:00-04:00

Eyal Weizman is a London-based Israeli architect and Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. His work focuses on architecture as a form of political intervention and the discipline's role in modern urban warfare. For the past couple of years, Weizman's research project—Forensic Architecture—has been using architectural evidence for the investigation of crimes against the state on cases ranging from drone strikes to genocide. Repositioning the field of architecture within forensics, Weizman and his team look at evidence such as debris left behind, physical ruin, floor plans, cell phone footage etc. in order to reconstruct the events that took place, much like one would analyze a crime scene.

In a recent interview with Vice, Weizman talks about his work, recreating bombings in Syria, and using architecture to investigate the invisible. Check out the video below!

Palmyra recaptured from ISIS; first photos show level of destruction

2017-03-03T13:24:00-05:00

Syrian government troops have retaken Palmyra from Islamic State forces, with help from Russian air support, the Syrian army said in a statement on Thursday. Politicians in Russian welcomed the news as a triumph, as widely reported by the state’s media, but few details have emerged about the condition of the ancient site, where Isil has previously wreaked large-scale destruction. [...] Isil first took Palmyra in May 2015 and the extremist group destroyed a number of important monuments [...].

The Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities & Museums published an initial set of photos of the extent of destruction after ISIS troops had been driven out of Palmyra's archaeological sites on March 2, 2017.

↑ Roman Theater

↑ Tetrapylon

↑ Triumphal Arch (previously on Archinect)

↑ Palmyra Museum

All images via dgam.gov.sy under Creative Commons License.

Turkey completes more than half of 317 mile-long Syrian border wall

2017-02-27T19:33:00-05:00

Seeking to stem migration to Europe, the EU has remained largely silent about the wall's impact on people seeking asylum

Welcome to the age of walls.

Turkey has completed more than half of a planned 511-kilometer wall along its border with Syria. The government says it will improve security, but rights groups warn refugees fleeing war will be stuck on the Syrian side.

Turkey has erected 290 kilometers (180 miles) of a planned 511-kilometer (317 miles) "security wall" along its border with war-torn Syria, local media reported on Sunday, quoting the head of the body building the structure.

The last view from Aleppo...

2017-02-15T23:46:00-05:00

My university became a hub of protest. Campus life alternated between classes and protests and raids by security forces...Yusuf, though trained as an architect, volunteered in all possible ways...We were desperate for the world to hear and help us. I had been frantically tweeting images and videos of destruction from eastern Aleppo.

Back in January architect and activist, Lina Shamy, penned an editorial. Wherein she reflects on, her first-hand experience, a witness to urbicide in action.

Previously, another Syrian architect talked about, the past and future of her destroyed hometown of Homs.

ISIS militants retake ancient city of Palmyra

2016-12-12T15:09:00-05:00

ISIS forces have retaken the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, according to Syrian government media, the ISIS media wing and a human rights monitor. [...] ISIS first seized control of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in May 2015. Syrian government forces recaptured it in March this year. [...] ISIS demolished many of the city's ancient treasures, including the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin, as well as the Temple of Bel.

Palmyra previously in the Archinect news:

A war-torn Syrian's home, IKEA-style

2016-11-08T14:22:00-05:00

Living in a war-torn country isn't easy, which is why the idea to display a Syrian home in the comfort-addled environs of an IKEA store is remarkable. Shoppers can tour a 25 square meter mock-up that is modeled after a real Damascus-adjacent home that functions as living quarters for a family of nine (!) and then donate funds to those in need via special versions of IKEA's signature product tags. This video explains it all:

As conflict wages in Syria, Turkey's Erdogan eyes future real-estate prospects

2016-10-13T12:39:00-04:00

Turkey’s president looks at northern Syria and sees what others don’t: a massive real estate project. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose army is attempting to clear 5,000 square kilometers in northern Syria of Islamic State, talks about building entire cities when his soldiers’ work is done. In regular addresses, he describes a future in which refugees return home to Turkish-built apartment blocks supplemented by Turkish-built schools and social facilities.

That may be the only way to get some of the nearly 3 million Syrians in Turkey to return home and begin reconstructing their country, he says.

For more on the Syrian conflict, check out past coverage:

Replica of Palmyra Arch presented in New York

2016-09-22T17:57:00-04:00

A recreation of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph was unveiled in New York on Monday, almost a year after Islamic State militants destroyed the original structure. The 1,800-year-old Roman arch was blown up by the extremist group last October, but a team of archeologists at Oxford University’s Institute for Digital archeology (IDA) set about recreating it, in an act of resistance to Isis’s rampant acts of cultural destruction in Iraq and Syria.

The recreation, which is two-thirds the size of the original, was constructed with 3D printing technology using Egyptian marble. Historically, the arch marked the entrance to the Temple of Baal, which was later converted into a church and then a mosque.

The recreated arch was displayed last spring in Trafalgar Square. It will stay in New York — at City Hill park — for one week before heading to Dubai.

Watch a video of the construction here:

For more on Palmyra and the destruction caused by ISIL, follow these links:

Download a 3D model of a column from Palmyra

2016-06-28T20:48:00-04:00

In ‘A World of Fragile Parts’, La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) explore the threats facing the preservation of global heritage sites and how the production of copies can aid in the preservation of cultural artifacts. Ecological uncertainty, violent attacks, and the increasing demands of tourism are just a few of the factors putting global heritage sites and cultural artifacts at risk of destruction and loss.

For the Venice Biennale exhibit "A World of Fragile Parts," the digital archaeology project #NEWPALMYRA made a chrome version of a capital from the recently-destroyed city of Palmyra. Now, anyone can download the 3D model and print it, use it in a model of their own, or simply spin it around.

Palmyra is an ancient city dating back to the Neolithic era that housed one of the world's most impressive collections of Roman colonial architecture. But last year, ISIL took control of the city and destroyed many of the ruins.

#NEWPALMYRA has been carefully remaking the destroyed archaeological site using digital means, and making their work freely available to the public. For more information, or to download the model, visit their site.

Play around with it here:

Sweden tightens its refugee policy, introduces new restrictions for asylum seekers

2016-06-21T13:52:00-04:00

Sweden, once one of the most welcoming countries for refugees, on Tuesday introduced tough new restrictions on asylum seekers, including rules that would limit the number of people granted permanent residency and make it more difficult for parents to reunite with their children. The government said the legislation... was necessary to prevent the country from becoming overstretched by the surge of migration to Europe that began last year.

As more and more refugees flood into Europe from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere, once-welcoming countries are increasingly tightening their borders. For more on this, check out these links:

Syrian architect talks about the past and future of her destroyed hometown of Homs

2016-05-13T13:57:00-04:00

Is planning still important in a city that's been razed to the ground by civil war? Syrian architect Marwa Al-Sabouni thinks so. She describes life in the city of Homs, which has sustained massive destruction during the Syrian war, and reveals what she'd like it to look like in the future.

Tensions build at Athen's port of Piraeus, the first stop for many refugees seeking asylum in Europe

2016-04-26T12:52:00-04:00

Squalid, chaotic, overwhelmed: Piraeus is the first port of call for the thousands now trapped in the capital, on the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis. Since the closure of Greece’s northern border and with it the Balkan migrant trail – a move that has resulted in more than 46,000 stranded on the Greek mainland – it has been emblematic of the country’s inability to cope with a situation few had envisaged.

"In passenger terminals never built to deal with a humanitarian crisis, facilities have been rudimentary, tensions high, and resources vastly overstretched."

The article notes that the growing refugee population is putting pressure on Athenian society, which was already tense as the country continues to struggles under crippling austerity measures imposed by the European Union. Far-right movements, like the Golden Dawn, are gaining popularity.

Meanwhile, a plan sponsored by the UN Refugee Agency proposes to house up to 20,000 refugees in private apartments around the capital.

For more on the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East, check out these links:

Recreation of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph presented in Trafalgar Square

2016-04-20T12:00:00-04:00

A monumental recreation of the destroyed Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Syria, has been unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square. The 1,800-year-old arch was destroyed by Islamic State militants last October and the 6-metre (20ft) model, made in Italy from Egyptian marble, is intended as an act of defiance: to show that restoration of the ancient site is possible if the will is there.

For more on the relating topics in this article check out these links:

Palmyra after ISIS: a first look at the level of destruction

Before + after photos of Syria's devastated heritage

Another Grade II listed building loses its protected status in north east England

London's V&A to host a robot construction team this summer

Palmyra after ISIS: a first look at the level of destruction

2016-03-28T19:15:00-04:00

As the Two-Way reported on Sunday, the Syrian government says its forces have retaken the desert city of Palmyra, in the center of Syria. The self-declared Islamic State seized the city in May of last year — and soon unleashed a wave of destruction on its defenders, inhabitants and archaeological treasures.

Previously in the Archinect news:

"Nobody thinks about the safety of these women": the harrowing experiences of female refugees

2016-02-16T17:42:00-05:00

Amnesty International and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, recently presented reports on the vulnerable position of women refugees and the dangers they face. Europe is failing to provide basic protection for them, the Amnesty report stated. This problem is now all the more critical because the percentage of women among the refugees who travel through Europe has risen dramatically.

"All the women interviewed for the Amnesty report said that they felt unsafe and threatened during the various stages of their journey. Women are at greater risk of becoming victims of violence, robbery and extortion... There is also the threat of rape and sexual assault by smugglers, security guards, policemen and fellow refugees. Some smugglers try to coerce the women into having sex with them in exchange for a shorter waiting time or a lower price for the crossing."

Alongside first-hand accounts by female refugees, the article describes some of the particular struggles women face, in addition to those experienced by their male counterparts. Women are expected to care for their children along the difficult sea and land routes from Syria to Europe.

Many refugee facilities don't have separate bathroom facilities for each gender, and the risk of sexual assault runs high. Some women have taken to sleeping outside of the camps, without any shelter, if its seems safer than risking sleepin...

Before + after photos of Syria's devastated heritage

2016-02-04T13:45:00-05:00

Across Syria, where a seemingly unstoppable war is about to enter a third year, a heritage built over 5,000 years or more is being steadily buried under rubble.

Related:

Sweden plans mass expulsion of up to 80,000 refugees

2016-01-28T13:04:00-05:00

Sweden intends to expel as many as 80,000 refugees and migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose applications for asylum have been rejected. [...] Sweden, which is home to 9.8 million people, is one of the European Union countries that has taken in the largest number of refugees in relation to its population. Sweden received more than 160,000 asylum seekers last year, and about 55 of those are expected to be given asylum.

"The planned mass expulsion was announced as Europe struggles to deal with a crisis that has seen tens-of-thousands of refugees arrive on Greek beaches with the passengers - mostly fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - undeterred by cold, wintry conditions and deadly seas."

Related: