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With the prospect of the Rohingya not being able to return to Myanmar for years to come, the prototypes in Camp 4 Extension reflect how aid and relief organizations are finding new ways to manage the long-term needs of the most populous refugee camp in the world. — CityLab
CityLab reports on the latest efforts to drastically improve living conditions inside Kutupalong Refugee Camp, the world's largest camp of its kind and currently home to more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees that fled from ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh... View full entry
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.
— The Art Newspaper
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. View full entry
A Chinese county along the border with North Korea is constructing refugee camps intended to house thousands of migrants fleeing a possible crisis on the Korean Peninsula, according to an internal document that appears to have been leaked from China’s main state-owned telecommunications company. — The New York Times
The Times reports that one of China’s most prominent experts on North Korea called building the refugee camps “absolutely reasonable.” View full entry
Due to the large influx of refugees, sheet walls of many temporary houses have begun to wear out. And there are other major constraints. There’s low water supply, deforestation, and extremely hot temperatures, and a rainy season which often results in heavy flooding. Plus Kalobeyei remote location creates many obstacles. There are no commercial flights to the area, and it can take up to 3 days to get there by road for the capital, Nairobi, where some materials may have to be sourced from. — UN-Habitat
Shigeru Ban has signed an agreement with UN-Habitat to design up to 12,000 new homes in the Kalobeiyei refugee settlement site in Northern Kenya. Commissioned in response to the settlement’s rapid growth, which is expected to outnumber its original capacity of 45,000 within a year, the new... View full entry
As the country’s crime rate and prison population have steadily declined for years, dozens of correctional facilities have closed altogether. So when the number of migrants started to rise—more than 50,000 entered the Netherlands last year alone—the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) saw a solution. — National Geographic
Many prisons in the Netherlands have been repurposed to house refugees who are waiting to be granted asylum status, a process that usually takes at least six months. Free to come and go as they please, the refugees are not allowed to work but are encouraged to learn Dutch and build connections... View full entry
As cities densify and the global population increases, much has been made of reclaiming physical spaces: but how does one reclaim a place that is bound up in tragedy, whether that tragedy was natural or man-made? On March 3rd and 4th, Parsons the New School for Design will host a symposium... View full entry
The number of migrants sleeping rough on the streets of Paris has risen by at least a third since the start of the week when the "Jungle" shanty town in Calais was evacuated.
Along the bustling boulevards and a canal in a northeastern corner of Paris, hundreds of tents have been pitched by asylum seekers - mostly Africans who say they are from Sudan - with cardboard on the ground to try and insulate them from the cold.
— Al Jazeera
While their presence is not new, it has grown substantially this week, said Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security issues.According to the article, there are up to a thousand more people living on the streets of Paris—amounting to around 2,500 in total—following the closure... View full entry
Since August of 2015, Germany has become home to more than 1.1 million refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers. This influx has German architects and urban planners asking the question: “Do we have a refugee crisis on our hands? Or a housing crisis combined with huge challenges to the ability of cities, job markets, and schools to integrate the newcomers?” — the Atlantic
[Doug Saunders] cautions that arrival cities are “where the new creative and commercial class will be born, or where the next wave of tension and violence will erupt.” The difference, he adds “depends on how we approach these districts both organizationally and politically, and, crucially... View full entry
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.
— the New York Times
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:Tensions build at Athen's port of Piraeus, the first stop for many refugees seeking asylum in... View full entry
A large fire has broken out at a convention centre in the western German city of Duesseldorf.
The centre acts as an accommodation hub for refugees waiting to be sent elsewhere in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Everyone inside hall 18, where 180 refugees were staying, was brought to safety, according to reports.
As the fire raged, a thick, black plume of smoke could be seen across Duesseldorf.
— BBC
In related news:What Does the Syrian Refugee Crisis Mean to Architecture?Ai Weiwei's latest works focus on refugee crisis in GreeceNew MoMA exhibition explores the architecture of displacementOlafur Eliasson's 'Green Light' responds to the refugee crisis in Europe View full entry
the artist says we should not “sentimentalise or romanticise” the crisis, which has seen more than 2,000 children die on their way to Europe. [...]
Ai first visited Lesbos on Christmas Day last year, and has since dedicated most of his life to helping refugees there, even moving his studio to the island. [...]
“The goal is to make everyone conscious of the struggle of refugees. We need to protect humanity. The fight is endless. If we don’t fight, our children have to fight,” he says.
— theartnewspaper.com
Related on Archinect:Ai Weiwei documents life in Greek refugee camp on social mediaUN Refugee Agency Commissions 10k Ikea-designed Better SheltersCurator of MoMA's “Insecurities: Tracing Displacement and Shelter" on palliative refugee architectureWhat Does the Syrian Refugee Crisis Mean to... View full entry
If we imagine one's escape to a refugee camp as fragmentary, provisional and incomplete, the camp must be transformed not only in design but also in its role as a catalyst for promoting the humanity of those living within its barbed-wired walls. [...]
Architecture has become the litmus test of society's capacity for holistic and compassionate security.
— cnn.com
For more on the architectural experience of refugees:Kenya moves to shut down Dadaab, the world's biggest refugee campNew MoMA exhibition explores the architecture of displacementAi Weiwei documents life in Greek refugee camp on social mediaThe vast majority of Syrian refugees are seeking refuge... View full entry
The architecture of forced displacement is the subject of “Insecurities: Tracing Displacement and Shelter,” a forthcoming exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit will assemble work by architects, designers, and artists responding to the global refugee crisis.
Curated by Sean Anderson, MoMA’s associate curator for architecture and design, with curatorial assistant Arièle Dionne-Krosnick, “Insecurities” will include works of design built to help alleviate suffering inside refugee camps.
— citylab.com
↑ Interior of a Better Shelter prototype in Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Erbil, Iraq. (Image: Better Shelter, 2015)Related stories in the Archinect news:Ai Weiwei documents life in Greek refugee camp on social media"Nobody thinks about the safety of these women": the harrowing experiences of female... View full entry
Germany has announced new legal measures requiring migrants and refugees to integrate into society in return for being allowed to live and work in the country.
Under the coalition government’s measures, announced on Thursday morning, asylum seekers face cuts to support if they reject mandatory integration measures such as language classes or lessons in German laws or cultural basics.
— the Guardian
"According to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the aim of Germany’s first ever integration law is to make it easier for asylum seekers to gain access to the German labour market, with the government promising 100,000 new 'working opportunities', expected to include low-paid... View full entry
The second-biggest Italian city is offering a monthly payment of 350 euros ($376) to every resident willing to host a refugee, or an asylum seeker, in their home.
The city of Milan announced Monday with a post on its Facebook page that soon local residents will be paid for giving shelter to one or more refugees.
— Vice
Related:Architectures of the DisasterHow Architects Can Help Nepal (And Learn From Past Disastrous Mistakes/Successes)Ai Weiwei documents life in Greek refugee camp on social mediaThe vast majority of Syrian refugees are seeking refuge in cities, not campsViennese student dorms may Passively House... View full entry
