ma’man

meaning safety, asylum, or safe haven

IDEC Competiton, 1 Week Fall 2022, Revit, Enscape

Team Members: Gabrielle DeCotiis Grace Steenstra, & Jenny Ballard

The goal of this space is to provide a haven to the refugees that will occupy it temporarily. The space planning was designed to reflect traditional Syrian housing in Damascus in order to provide the family with a sense of familiarity. The space has a centralized social area that draws inspiration from courtyards found in Syrian houses, identified by materiality. Feelings of safety and security were also prioritized by placing the sleeping areas away from external access points. All design decisions were made with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in mind.

The space planning consisted of thorough research and understanding of multiple cultures, like German, the location of the build, and Syrian, for those finding asylum in the dwelling, and finding the ties between family and culture.