Refugee camp design and its performance according to structural, functional and form efficiency
E. PAPAEVANGELOU (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Rachel Lee – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
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Abstract
Refugee camps’ design raises unique challenges. The populations that move to exile, are exposed, and often traumatized. The period of an emergency can not be defined most of the times, as well as the funds are likely to be deficient, and the design must also operate under constraints of both an institutional and pragmatic nature. This imposes the camp itself not to be permanent, and that both the materials that are being used for construction nor the morphology of the camp should display any aspirations for permanency. The purpose of my history thesis is to investigate some of the different types of large refugee camps built in Africa between 1964 and 2015, and focus on how they perform. The case studies comprise the Kyangwali camp, located in Southwest Uganda, which was established in 1964, the Kyaka II camp, located in Southwest Uganda, which was established in 1983, the Kakuma camp located in Kenya, which was established in 1991, and the Jewi camp located in Gambella, Ethiopia, which was established in 2015. The performance of the case studies will be based on the observations and work of Alex Tzonis in his book “Towards a non-oppressive environment”. This thesis will try to provide a typological analysis of the existing settlements and on the way these refugee camps are being designed and contracted. Also the way their design affects every day living in different camps of different decades.