Project 01: Refuge(e)

​Part 1: Urban Displacement

         For this project, I was prompted to design my choice of any structure that would be placed in a refugee camp for refugees fleeing from Aleppo, Syria.  I had my choice from designing anything from a health clinic to a dining hall.  I chose to design a water production and collection system that would provide water for all 30,000 refugees that the camp was designed to hold. I began by researching ways to collect AND produce water in a desert environment, with no water source nearby.  I found information on precipitation throughout the year and also found a system that could turn humid air into water.  I chose to incorporate rain water collection and the water production system into a single design that would work together. 

Preliminary Designs

Major obstacles or things to consider
  • Power required to power vapor machines
  • The design needed to be modular or temporary 
  • The design needed to occupy minimal space 
  • Enough CLEAN water needed to be provided 

Final Drawings 

          It is designed above ground in order to maximize the use of gravity.  This reduces the amount of pumps needed which therefore eliminates the use of large amounts of power. Also, the elevated base allows for transportation trucks and service vehicles to park underneath the structure and also have easier access to the large water tanks. 

Water Vapor Machines

The final design consists of modular units that hold twelve water vapor units and an intricate water collection system.  The entire design contains 16 of the individual units.  Meaning there are 192 water machines plus an additional 24 from the 4 half units. Making it a total of 216 machines.  This also means that throughout the entire design, there are 216 solar panels because each machine requires one solar panel to power the water pumps inside. 

Final Model

Part 2: Relocation

         For the second part of this project, I was assigned to design for the refugees coming back from the refugee camp to Aleppo.  At this point, the city is made up mostly of rubble and destroyed buildings and homes.  My team and I (Cult Architecture), discussed what needed to be done in order for the people to return.  A few of my teammates decided to design a market place with housing on top.  This would provide comfortable housing.  On the other hand, I decided to design a memorial for the Syrian Civil War.  This event has played a huge role in these peoples lives.  Therefore, with the creation of my memorial, the people can not only remember those who lost their lives, but also remember where they came from and have a sense of hope. The memorial contains elements that symbolize many events in the war.  Every element within the memorial is intentional making it a new landmark location within the city.

Preliminary Drawings

          I immediately began with an axis based design.  The first design was two separate structures with a center axis. I actually got very far into the design before I switched paths, as you can see in the photo above. . After research on the war and studying other memorials, the structures went away and I began to focus purely on landscape.

Final Drawings 

Symbolism 

The memorial design contains many aspects of symbolism including:
​
- The separation between the government and the people REPRESENTED BY Axis geometry and split sides divided by water
- Seven years of the war / number of years without freedom REPRESENTED BY Seven Syrian flags 
- The ability to experience the conflict from past to present or present to past REPRESENTED BY entries on both sides
- The wars duration (7 years) REPRESENTED BY The cut in the earth being 7 feet deep
- The Great Mosque of Aleppo and the Citadel Landmark REPRESENTED BY The two sides are angles to point towards each of those historical landmarks that were destroyed in the war. 
- The men and women who lost their lives REPRESENTED BY the seven pillars in which for each 500 deaths is 1 inch in height.  Their is a pillar for each year in the war.  Making them a timeline of deaths in the war.  
- The 15 boys who were detained and one killed for graffiting a wall which began the conflict outright REPRESENTED BY the splitting wall that contains portions of the original graffiti. 

​These are some but not all of the elements of symbolism within the design. 

Renderings

Final Model