LIMINAL LANDS: BETWEEN OPPRESSION & RAPPROCHEMENT Spatial Justice at the Intersection of Architectural, Environmental and Societal Frontiers
LIMINAL LANDS: BETWEEN OPPRESSION AND RAPPROCHEMENT Spatial Justice at the Intersection of Architectural, Environmental & Societal Frontiers Sean McQueenie 201233663 PGDip Advanced Architectural Design Department of Architecture Faculty of Engineering University of Strathclyde Originally submitted: 21.12.20 Word count: 3288
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Declaration
AB 967 Cultural Studies 5A MArch/PG Dip Advanced Architectural Design MArch Architecture Design International “I hereby declare that this dissertation submission is my own work and has been composed by myself. It contains no unacknowledged text and has not been submitted in any previous context. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information, text, illustration, tables images etc. have been specifically acknowledged. I accept that if having signed this Declaration my work should be found at Examination to show evidence of academic dishonesty the work will fail and I will be liable to face the University Senate Discipline Committee.� Name: Sean McQueenie
Signed: Date: 21.12.20 II
Damascus Another bomb explodes behind a mosque
Aleppo Byzantine ruins after fight between rebel and pro-regime forces
Aleppo Governorate Rich, fertile countryside
Fig.1 | Remnants of a Civilisation
Raqqa Governorate Power lines from the dam at Lake Assad
Latakkia Power plant at the port
“In a democracy, architects have a civic duty to publicly question flawed practices, to resist authoritarian tendencies to impose designs, and to suffer the inevitable consequences of standing up to power brokers,� Giancarlo de Carlo, 1969: 27 III
Fig.2: Reckoning | Raqqa, Northern Syria “...a heated debate on how to rebuild the country has emerged. In Homs, there are contrasting visions of the future. Some want to rebuild a shiny new city: a forgetful city that neglects not only its past, but also the war. Others want Syria’s past to lay the foundation for its future. They want city that faces its history, including dark periods,” Azzouz, 2018
Forcible Displacement, Conflict & Ruin How many people would you lose if your home neighbourhood was bombed? Would you run for safety or stay when both options are fraught with profound uncertainty? How would you begin to clear the rubble if there are 10 pieces of munitions or unexploded ordnance per square metre? If peace could be achieved, would you return to live, for a brief visit or be forever too hesitant or scared to return? Where would you start?
As it emerges from a decade of conflict, Syria reckons with itself in the midst of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since World War II. In our reconciliation and rapprochement efforts, what elements should have priority? Do we focus on monumental heritage or place emphasis on restoring a sense of the everyday for citizens? Do we start fresh, or work with what remains? What is the best way to create a sense of familiarity, demonstrating the city is safe to return to?
To ascertain whether architecture can be utilised to prevent violence and maintain positive peace in the region, we must first decipher the fundamental issues at play by examining the root causes and resultant effects. The drought and subsequent crop failures of 2006-10 forced agricultural workers on the border of the Aridity Line in Syria – the 200mm Isohyet which demarcates the threshold of the desert – to relocate in search of shelter and sustenance. Almost 100,000 were forcibly displaced to the frontier city of Dara’a, while a further 1.5 million followed suit across the nation (Weizman, 2017). Poor conditions and lack of opportunities presented upon arrival, and the ensuing strain on the conurbations which now housed them contributed to non-violent protests, evolving into the Arab Spring uprising. President Assad’s regime attempted to suppress protests through increasingly violent means, leading to civil war. With each party’s rise to power and the fluid dynamics of shifting areas under their control, cities became frontiers of safety and war; checkpoints and barriers between cultures and ethnic groups; remaining thresholds with the traditional, persistent ‘enemy’ of the harsh natural environment.
Many of the population who had initially been displaced by the shifting border of the environment and droughts found themselves forced to move again to seek refuge in safer, less hostile cities away from the “Conflict shoreline,” (Weizman, 2017: 233). As fighting spread across the country, so too did displacement. Humanities and Inclusion reported upwards of twelve moves within Syria for some families before they fled across international borders (Handicap International, 2016). By 2016, the 5
YEMEN
Fig.3: Context Map | Middle East, Africa and Europe
Fig.4: Factors Behind Forced Displacement | Conflict, persecution, natural disaster
Fig.5: Factors Preventing Return | Areas to Provide Opportunities War & destruction still prevalent; logistical and financial issues regarding travelling home or rebuilding adequate housing, amenities and support networks; fear of continued persecution; economic uncertainty; lack of opportunities; insufficient healthcare support 6
conflict had claimed over 470,000 lives. Of the 79.5 million forcibly displaced globally in 2019, 13.2 million were Syrian – the highest single-nation total (UNHCR, 2020) – 86% of whom are located in cities, exacerbating urbanisation issues faced in the Global South as cities haven’t been designed to cope with such a sudden influx of new residents, itself a source of socio-cultural tensions in neighbouring states - a major contributing factor in unsustainable urban growth (WorldBank, 2017)
A psychological epidemic unfolded: 49% of Syrians require treatment (OCHA, 2019). Conflict, isolation, disconnection, loss and displacement are common causations of mental ill-health, aggravated when access to appropriate care, community inclusion and support are limited or denied, or when discrimination and persecution persist (Saxena et. al, 2014). Despite this, the majority of civilians in a Handicap International study wished to return home:
“People want to live in their own homes...
Syrian refugees want to return home even knowing their homes and cities are rubble. They yearn to rebuild their lives in the place they love,” (Handicap International, 2016: 43).
Indeed a 2017
World Bank study emphasizes the importance of returning home from a socio-economic perspective, promoting prosperity and sustainable growth for home and host nations and citizens.
Physical Politics Remote warfare was introduced in the 1920s as a more efficient and cost effective way of controlling ‘tribal rebels’ in extraterritorial regions beyond the liminal of colonial rule, pushing their jurisdiction and land cultivation across the Aridty Line. This Ruracide (invented by the author from Ruris meaning countryside; and cide - a killing) of the nomadic Bedouin people’s lands, agriculture and tents (Yiftachel, Kedar & Amara, 2018) is echoed in contemporary Syria, resulting in abandonment and neglect of these persecuted communities, necessitating urban orientated migration preceding war.
As warfare migrated to more populous zones, it was viewed ‘safer’ and more cost-effective to resume aerial overpowering. Although improved technologies theoretically allow for more accurate weaponry, surveillance and control, the reality is far different. This lethal weaponeering is suited to open battlefields not urban, civilian areas. Nearly half of all displaced Syrians fled as a direct impact of “Indiscriminate attacks and use of explosive weapons in populated areas; deliberate targeting of
civilians or civilian objects; or sieges.” (Handicap International, 2016: 9).
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2019
06.2011
2019
13.01.14
2019
06-08.17 2016
Fig.10 | Coalition forces bombard Raqqa to drive Daesh forces out, killing at least 2,000 civilians in the process - the heaviest bombardment anywhere in Syria by coalition forces
2010 2019
17.06.20 2016
2016
Fig.9 | IS forces take advantage of the fragile situation in Raqqa, during which time the city is declared as IS’ capital 8
Fig.8 | Raqqa became the centre of operations for Daesh (IS) forces following its liberation by the Syrian Free Army, who had teamed up with Jihadist forces and IS linked groups to defeat pro-regime forces
2010
2010
2016
Fig.7 | Following the government crackdown on peaceful protests against the Assad regime, the Free Syrian Army was established by defecting Syrian soldiers
03.2013 2016
2016
Fig.6 | A wave of protests, uprisings and rebellions beginning in Dara’a in April spreading across several Arab nations, sparked due to the oppressive nature of the regime in place perpetuating poor living conditions for citizens
2019
2010
2010-11
2010
2010 2019
Fig.11 | Written by the US imposing sanctions on the Syrian government and its allies for violence against its people
One person or group representing an opposing force are legitimate targets in war, although warfare is rarely so rudimentary: When emphasis turns from employing reasonable force to eliminate opponents who possess harmful world views to eradicating all those who associate or are forced to interact with it by razing an entire neighbourhood block, infrastructure or culture as a form of collective punishment is abhorrent. Issues of the Principal of Proportionality are highlighted by Azzouz & Wheeler (2018), noting decisions to conduct war in this manner as the main contributor to Syria’s dire situation. Even in peacetime, people and settlements viewed as not aligning with the state are often targeted or eradicated, not due to armed threat but because their government’s negative perception of them.
Widespread destruction of the built environment has come to be known as Urbicide: Defined as
“Political violence intentionally designed to erase or ‘kill’ cities...can involve the enthno-nationalist targeting of spaces of cosmopolitan mixing; the systematic devastation of the means of living a modern urban life; or the direct erasure of demonized people and places,” (Stephen Graham, 2011). Beyond obvious instant implications of Urbicide is the resultant impact of destruction on sewage facilities; transport of trade and sustenance; access for aid; loss of education facilities and wreckage of communication networks. Unexploded ordnance, chemical contamination, dead bodies or exposed hazardous building materials from the former built environment also pose serious ramifications beyond the cessation of war.
In Contested Architecture (2020), Alissar Riachi reports four other ways architecture is employed against a population during and after conflict:
Warchitecture - the overt, aggressive and targeted ‘statement’ destruction of built cultural heritage and space to deny places affiliated with, or sacred to, the opponent’s way of life and erode associated memories and connected identities, such as Nazi destruction of historic Warsaw (Bevan, 2006);
Weaponisation of Architecture by converting existing structures or space into military strongholds, like the use of Entebbe Airport as a hostage holding facility in 1976 by Anti-Israeli forces;
Division of cities between rival factions, increasing spatial contention, monopolising resources, promoting control through policy or siege, or denying access to key strategic zones or features, exemplified in Belfast during the ‘Troubles’; 9
“To lose all that is familiar - the destruction of one’s environment - can mean a disorientating exile from the memories they have evoked. It is the threat of a loss to one’s collective identity and the secure continuity of those ideas.” BEVAN, 2006: 29
Fig.12: Aleppo | Urbicide
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Fig.13: Raqqa | Sifting through the rubble
Displacement and forced expulsion of particular communities from their home regions as found across Palestinian territories by Israel (Weizman, 2017).
The independent Freedom House analyses nations’ levels of democracy according to a variety of factors. Syria is ranked as second worst internationally, scoring negative points under one determinant asking whether the dominant party seeks to edit the “ethnic composition,” or erase culture to consolidate power.
The answer was alarmingly that all sides “...have sought to alter the ethnic composition of
their territories, forcing civilians of all backgrounds to seek safety among their respective religious or ethnic groups and contributing to the demographic shifts wrought by the civil war.” (Freedom House, 2020).
Seeking to construct the narrative of a nation in pursuit of political power from a
singular perspective, prescribing to citizens who they should celebrate and, more importantly, ignore is a form of racist control (Weizman, 2017).
There is a well intentioned school of thought in Syria which believes in the narrative of completely demolishing the city and starting fresh to expunge existing problems. Systematically destroying cities in this manner however is a long-term approach to the installation of an urban environment which is more suited to furthering the agenda of those in power, only becoming apparent when cities are rebuilt with capitalist structures or gentrify and deny the rights and customs of previous residents - displace one population; replace with another. This violent and wilful destruction of buildings, cities and lands inhabited by certain peoples is a systematic, deliberate, subtle form of racism, entailing selective commemoration of historical aspects and erasure of cultures deemed not in-line with authorities’.
The rebellion by Syrians unwilling to be participants in their own degradation was a reaction against the perpetuation of their ostracising and vilification which led to the civil war, although rebuilding in the government’s image will allow the built environment to subtly influence and establish the parameters for subsequent atrocities. If according to Carl von Clausewitz “War is a mere continuation of policy
by other means,” (1832: 37) architecture can be considered in this case as methodical continuation of war and destruction by ‘other means’, perpetuating violence and exerting racial control. Displacement through reconstruction as re-destruction (Azzouz & Wheeler, 2018), a form of Warchitecture.
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Key Al-Nusra Government Kurdish Rebels IS (Daesh)
Fig.14: Frontiers, borders and thresholds | Liminal Land in Syria Composite map showing the governorates of Syria overlayed with each location of conflict and controlling forces’ zones of control, with the Aridity Line shown in black. Fluid dynamics and shifting borders of areas under various forces control where cities became frontiers of safety and war; streets were checkpoints and barriers between cultures and ethnic groups; all while resisting the traditional and persistent ‘enemy’ of the desert 12
Psychological Impact At present, there is limited scope for criminalising the use of these weapons from a political perspective due to their efficient production and readily availability. Several international militaries and humanitarian organisations actively record desecration, studying the immediate aftermath of conflict. We must however move from the linear narrative of primary environmental and physical destruction to consider the secondary yet often more damaging and dynamic psychological impacts resulting from this annihilation as the hidden effects and subtle longer term consequences are less well understood. Although the extent of the effect it has on our behaviours is yet to be firmly established, strong evidence exists of an acquaintance between the built environment and our psyche. In their humorous exchange, Richard Buday and Robert Hart evidence opposing bodies of research conducted since the 1970s which debate whether the built environment exerts influence on our behaviours, although both agree it effects us neurologically:
“Premodern buildings were the effective
change agents architects now seek, and stories are the reason why. Historically, buildings have been tightly woven into origin and cultural metanarratives. Earlier works had meaning that today’s work lacks.” Robert Buday, 2020.
Architecture’s ability to exclusively influence behaviour is limited as this is derived from interrelated personal contextual factors including nature and nurture - character and experience - which inform our feelings regarding spaces. The strength of its ability to leave a durable impression on us through collective spatial encounters is clearer. Professor Salama discusses in detail the particulars of the myriad factors which determine our conceived-perceived-lived experience (Lefebvre, 1974) and design of urban forms in his 2020 Architecture & Society lecture. We understand that changes in our environment alter our perceptions of place, identity, emotions and associated memories as compellingly described by Frances Yates in The Art of Memory. This is clearest in the case of forced displacement, where multiple moves and radical change precipitated by extreme circumstances causes a loss of the
“Stable State,” (Schon, 1971).
Architecture’s ability to influence our identity may be
muted as this depends largely on our cultural or ethnic backgrounds, biological predispositions and life outlook - our behaviours tend to influence our buildings more than that relationship is reciprocated - but its ability to elicit emotions and define memory is intrinsically linked between detail and our subconscious, while working dynamically with underlying cultural factors to influence the social aspects of space. 13
Fig.15 | Paintings by Bernardo Bellotto from which the reconstruction of Warsaw was based. Paintings had been completed using a camera obscura technique to trace architectural drawings of buildings which led to inaccuracies
Fig.16 | German soldiers move through the rubble from their Urbicide of the city - they would go on to destroy 85% of the urban environment after fighting had concluded in one of the worst cases of Warchitecture in modern times
Fig.17 | Modern day Warsaw with comparative pre-war painting. “One of the philosophers calculated that Varsovians inhaled 4 bricks each year at that time. One must love one’s city in order to rebuild it at the cost of one’s own breathing. It is perhaps for this reason that, from the battlefield of rubble and ruins, Warsaw became once more the old Warsaw, eternal Warsaw.” (Tyrmand, 1950)
“A specific composition of details on surfaces, forms, and spaces generates a “biophilic effect.” Evolutionary adaptation tends to favor this complexity, which is the reason why these forms are often embedded into traditional designs... Biophilia and design patterns together promote a healing environment. Our body automatically recognizes geometrical signals that boost our natural immune and healing responses.” Fig.18: Mehaffy & Salingaros, 2020
MODERATE 37%
ALEPPO 32.7 DAMASCUS 25.4
HOMS 12.6
DAR’A 1.1 IDLIB 1.2 DEIR AS 5.8 RAQQA 11.7
HAMAH 9.6
Fig.19 | % Damaged Structures per City (Syria)
DESTROYED 35.3% SEVERE 27.7%
Fig.20 | Severity of Damage
We see inDomicide:The Global Destruction of Home that when close bonds to home are severed it is
“...one of the deepest wounds to one’s identity and self-esteem, for both of these props to sanity reside in part in objects and structures that we cherish,” (John Porteous & Sandra Smith, 2001) evidenced by Mehaffy & Salingaros’ 2020 study detailing the theory that recreation of ‘familiar’ environments significantly benefits the displaced, to a greater extent than previously acknowledged through a ‘Biophilic’ effect. Their study paradoxically suggest that the psychological, and in turn physiological health benefits outweigh the risks associated with returns, such as the case of the Babushkas of Prypryat near Chernobyl.
This however is not advocation for recreating the pre-war city. We learned from rebuilding Warsaw - suffering similar levels of destruction to Syria (Najjar, 2018) - that obsessing over recreating monuments and landmark structures isn’t strategically prudent, as residents found the city
“...not
the Warsaw that I remember from childhood. My school stood over there, I played with my friends over there – it does not exist! All of this is so foreign now!” (Daniel Mersom, 2020).
The more
pressing basic needs of a deprived and battered society, or the ever-evolving self which is likely to have profoundly changed in the interstitial period are additionally unaddressed. In Syria, extremities of the situation combined with multiple displacements inevitably accumulate, impacting on civilians’ welfare, in a similar scenario to survivors of the Bosnian conflict:
“For displaced persons, memory
and identity is performed, (re)constructed and (re)negotiated daily. Forced displacement radically reshapes identity,” (Hariz Halilovich, 2013). This is given further credence by reports of several of the displaced Syrian population
“...reimagining their former homes, recreating spaces decorated and
designed to reflect the lives they had before.” (Ammar Azzouz & Anna de Courcy Wheeler, 2018). When rebuilding, more attention must be paid to facilitating ‘grass-rooted’ reconstruction more attuned to citizens needs and emotional, recollective attachments. Recreating a sense of the ordane should be advocated over big-budget, misguided notions of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
If urban identity is derivative of periodic subjective attachment; urban diversity influenced by the collective spatial practice of all users; and urban efficiency generating space from conscious decision making (Salama, 2020), space to remember and learn from the past must be included. We may then enhance the spatial experience in the present.
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“Architecture provides settings for certain activities; signifies power, status or privacy. Architecture expresses and supports cosmological beliefs; communicates information; helps establish individual or group identity. Architecture differentiates between private/public; front/back; sacred/profane;habitable/uninhabitable Architecture makes tangible meanings; it creates metaphors of the ideals and beliefs of a community.� Ashraf Salama, adapted from Rapoport et. al., 2020
Fig.21: Focus | The importance of recreating the detail of day to day life and seeking spatial equality is critical to the success longevity of Syria
Fig.22: Ruin Lust | One of several rebuilding projects in Aleppo led by the Aga Kahn Foundation which sought to preserve the ancient souq 16
Learning From Experience Loss of diversity and inclusion are key factors in negative connotations of place (Salama, 2020). Why then are large scale reconstruction projects approached in this manner? Several construction efforts are already underway in Syria although suffer from tendencies towards diametrically opposed plans:
NGOs unwittingly assist rebuilding in the image of those who hold the interests of the many in disregard by repairing culturally significant historic landmarks - as beautifully described in Ruin Lust regarding our fascination with preservation:“They
stand as monuments to historic disasters,
but also provoke dreams about futures born from destruction and decay. Ruins are bleak but alluring reminders of our vulnerable place in time and space,” (Brian Dillon, 2014: blurb) neglecting infrastructure and ordainer;
The regime using destruction as a pretext for erasure of the cultural heritage of the city under the auspices of establishing new, luxury apartment blocks which gentrify neighbourhoods and exclude accommodation of key socio-spatial fabrics. A catastrophic ignorance of the majority of citizens results who are often then financially or politically phased out by national decrees (Riachi, 2020) and
‘Lawfare’: “A continuation of terrorism or oppression through policy,” (Weizman, 2017: 233)
strengthening the regime’s control, resulting in further violence or rebellion against authoritarian rule.
The case of the former is attested by Mostar, Bosnia, remaining partially ruined and less habited since war despite its classification as a World Heritage Site (UNESCO, 2020). Parallels exist between the latter and Abuja, Nigeria, a classic example of antagonistic design approaches designed to control the population, ultimately leading to their rebellion and necessitated softening of the government’s ‘strongman’ approach. Mathias Agbo Jr speaks of the melting pot conditions in Nigerian conurbations combining “The peculiarities of local politics, a half-century of British colonial rule that abhorred
all forms of protests, and several decades of military dictatorship when dissent was illegal,” (Agbo, 2020).
Deliberate omission of democratic space by rulers served to enforce compliance by limiting
and controlling mass gatherings, airing frustrations and deepening cultural divides through civic segregation.
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Fig.23: Spatial Justice | Protesters take to the streets of Abuja, Nigeria
CRISIS | THE CHALLENGES WHICH NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BY REBUILDING PROGRAMMES OVER THE CURRENT FOCUSES WHICH PLACE GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE MONUMENTALITY OF RUINS, URBANISING AGRARIAN SETTLEMENTS OR GENTRIFYING PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL URBAN SPACES ACCORDING TO THE DESIRES OF THE RULING CLASS RATHER THAN SATISFYING HUMANITARIAN NEEDS FACED BY A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE REMAINING POPULATION. INFORMATION FROM OCHA, 2019.
FIG.24 | COMMONLY REPORTED SHELTER INADEQUACIES
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FIG.25 | NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN NEED OF SHELTER
Rebuilding of cities like Aleppo will likely suffer the same fate despite the vast finances and resources available as those driving reconstruction possess too shallow an understanding of why its spaces inherently worked previously. Much like the historic rulers of Nigeria, the insecurities of Syria’s leaders are displayed when an omission of this spatial provision is deemed beneficial. Agbo Jr notes that while Abuja was designed to counter the maladies of capital Lagos,inspired by Paris’ urban form, public space remains criminally sparse as the key spatial ingredients were omitted, ostensibly to prevent public protests. Protesters began assuming the only available open space - boulevards. Peaceful action led to crippling blockades and caustic civic relations, preventing flow of goods, people and commerce.
Dialectic Urbanism What is the best method to rebuild? Given killing of the build environment in its accumulated forms, we must adopt a multi-faceted, dialectic approach, to counter the tide of unsustainable, forced urbanisation and provide appropriate space for spatial justice for all citizens. The devil may not be in the details, but the clues to a harmonious, prosperous, positive collective psyche are.
Syrian government’s rebuilding will serve to consolidate power through gentrification; expunge cultural influence with generic capitalist styles, purging remnants of entire architectural epochs previously ingrained as a backdrop of livelihood, through involvement of Russian and Iranian contractors. Nepotism will further erode the cultural landscape by internationalising and generalising urban forms located in least affected neighbourhoods, removing the only intact fabric and aggravating citizens; perpetuating war by providing limited social space. Sadly this symptom of an insecure, racist regime following a neo-colonial trend to control population through forced inclusion will likely result in future rebellion.
The enthusiasm of aid organisations is commendable yet misguided, while reconstruction misses the fact that initial migration was from rural regions to urban centres, so why aren’t they concentrating on rebuilding the most meaningful elements of cities for the diaspora? A significantly more sustainable, equitable and fair construction plan would be empowering survivors to help communities recover, coordinating resources more amenably, while providing them with purpose as a more effective coping strategy against residual psychological traumas. Esteemed Pakistani architect Lari summarises her dedication of expertise to help stricken rural regions:
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Fig.26: Aleppo “Will be Back...” | “Society is changing, architects must recognise and engage with these changes for our designs to be inclusive. It’s not the person that’s wrong, it’s the space and our relationship to it. Architects are in the desirable position between need and provision: we can enable inclusion rather than segregation...Inclusivity is not so much a statement as a mindset.” (Anna Sullivan, 2019)
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“Something people have helped to make is much more valued than something simply given. There’s so much money in disaster relief, but we need to put much more effort into disaster preparedness,” (Yasmeen Lari, 2020 in Wainwright, 2020).
Consciousness of regional trends is also vital to counter the universal solutions of aid agencies or imposition of authoritarian styles, remaining mindful of not forcing urbanism upon rural communities. Lari insists design would be better served to
“follow forms based on age-old wisdom,” protecting
the space and lives of vulnerable citizens, generating robust connections with identities and memories of place. Combining this with ‘local expertise’ of survivors and the sentiment “In architecture, the
quality of your methodology or approach doesn’t lie in its universal applicability but in its capacity to adapt to a diversity of situations,” (Giancarlo de Carlo, 1969 in Wood, 2018) is the best solution for a complex, evolving situation.
To that end, Syria should rebuild to remember the past as caution to the future, empathetically bridging the interstitial gap, maintaining awareness of an increasingly volatile global situation to operate in a humanitarian manner. Syria will not heal or achieve stable, meaningful peace until the country is rebuilt for all, by all to create socio-spatial justice and equality. By harnessing this unique opportunity we learn how to accommodate for a kaleidoscope of cultures at the intersection of conflict shorelines, environmental thresholds and architectural, culture and dynastic frontiers at the epicentre of humanitarian crisis. Can architecture be used to prevent war? Further study is required, but potentially: Provided politics allows for our collective tapestry of lived experience to be encountered, respected, accommodated and protected, incorporating a non-binary, egalitarian mindset, it can.
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Available at: https://issuu.com/jacoposapienza/docs/jacopo_sapienza (Accessed: 05.12.20) Grbac, Peter (2013) Civitas, polis, and urbs: Reimagining the refugee camp as the city Available at: https:// www.refworld.org/pdfid/55c9f3504.pdf (Accessed: 08.12.20 Green, Christopher (2000) A Theory of Human Motivation Available at: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/ Maslow/motivation.html (Accessed: 10.09.20) The Health Foundation (2015) Making change possible: A Transformation Fund for the NHS Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/field/field_publication_file/making-change-possible-atransformation-fund-for-the-nhs-kingsfund-healthfdn-jul15.pdf (Accessed: 12.10.20) Holliday, Joseph (12.11) The Struggle for Syria in 2011 Available at: http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/ default/files/Struggle_For_Syria.pdf (Accessed: 10.11.20) Holt, Edward T. (1966) The Hidden Dimension New York: Anchor Books Home Office (07.17). Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS): Guidance for local authorities and partners. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syrian-vulnerable-person-resettlementprogramme-fact-sheet (Accessed: 10.10.20) International Organization for Migration (08.11.17) Available at: https://www.iom.int/news/over-600000displaced-syrians-returned-home-first-7-months-2017 (Accessed: 18.10.20) Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (10.11.10) FAQ: The Campaign to Defame Israel Available at: https://mfa. gov.il/MFA/foreignpolicy/FAQ/pages/FAQ_attack_israeli_values.aspx (Accessed on: 06.12.20) Jamerson, Troy Donald (Pharoahe Monch) (2007) Agent Orange USA: Street Records Corporation and Universal Motown Republic Group Kudors, Andis & Pabriks, Artis (2019) The War in Syria: Lessons for the West Available at: https://issuu.com/ ccoe_pao/docs/20160101_uc_the-war-in-syria-lesson (Accessed: 06.12.20) Massih, Jeanine Abdul & Nishiyama, Shinichi (2018) Archaeological Explorations in Syria 2000-2011 Available at: https://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/DMS/463DAAA747094956BB3D1A788DF E435C/9781784919474-ArchaeologicalExplorationsinSyria2000-2011-Massihetal-Contents.pdf (Accessed: 10.11.20) McKittrick, Katherine (14.10.11) ‘On plantations, prisons, and a black sense of place’ Social & Cultural Geography Volume 12 (Issue 8, 2011) Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ abs/10.1080/14649365.2011.624280?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rscg20 (Accessed: 06.12.20) Museum Für Islamische Kunst (2020) Syrian Heritage Archive. Available at: https://syrian-heritage.org (Accessed: 17.10.20) Rema Haddad, George (2009) Changes in the nature and governance of public spaces in the historic city centre: the case of Damascus Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Changes-in-the-natureand-governance-of-public-in-%3A-Haddad/234ae9396abb5f53c06e5a037d84eb98ebda74ba (Accessed: 24.10.20) Samarskya, Ksenya (10.21.20) Considering Climate Migration Available at: https://commonedge.org/ considering-climate-migration/ (Accessed: 10.12.20) @sound_x_advice (07.12.20) Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgo_bmsdJg/ (Accessed: 07.12.20) United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (2019). Syrian Refugee Crisis Explained. Available at: https://www.unrefugees.org/news/syria-refugee-crisis-explained/#What%20is%20the%20UN%20 Refugee%20Agency%20doing%20for%20displaced%20Syrians? (Accessed: 30.09.20) 25
List of Figures Cover Image – By Author 1 – Image composed by author using: Ames, Justin/Velvet Rocket (2011). Goat Herders In Middle of Photo Available at: https://thevelvetrocket. com/2011/06/11/the-syrian-countryside/ (Accessed: 0710.20) Ames, Justin/Velvet Rocket (2011). Goat Herders In Background Available at: https://thevelvetrocket. com/2011/06/11/the-syrian-countryside/ (Accessed: 0710.20) Bekerman, Ronen (18.09.16). Cutout People 3D Available at: https://www.ronenbekerman.com/200-free-2dcutout-people-case3d/cutout_store-73/ (Accessed: 28.10.20) Lindgren, Chrisitan (2017). The Broken Entrance Available at: https://www.unusualtraveler.com/aleppo/ (Accessed: 28.10.20) Isik, Yoruk/Reuters (02.20). The Russian navy’s frigate Admiral Makarov sets sail in the Bosporus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea on Friday. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-deploys-warshipssyria-coast-after-turkey-loses-33-soldiers-n1144656 (Accessed: 28.10.20) Prickett, Ivor/Panos (2020). President Trump has said of Syria, “Let the other people take care of it now.” His repudiation of responsibility is striking, given that during his Administration the U.S. military, in its zeal to destroy isis, has reduced huge swaths of the country to wasteland. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/27/americas-abandonment-of-syria (Accessed: 28.10.20) Reuters (2019). Electricity Pylons and Power Transmission Lines. Available at: https://www.middleeastmonitor. com/20191209-russia-and-turkey-armies-strike-deal-to-swap-water-for-electricity/ (Accessed: 28.10.20) Uncredited (2015). Available at: https://www.insightturkey.com/editors-note/guest-editors-note-summer-2015 (Accessed: 28.10.20) Uncredited Available at: https://vertikal.net/en/news/story/34542/a-question-for-tower-crane-experts (Accessed: date) 2 – Photograph: Martins, Alice/Washington Post (05.20). Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fgraphics%2fworld%2f2020%2f05%2f22%2fformer-caliphate-capital-is-haunted-by-fears-an-isis-comeback%2f (Accessed: 10.10.20) 3-5 – By Author 6 – Photograph: Martins, Alice/Washington Post (05.20). A New Sign Was Errected on Naim Square Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fgraphics%2fworld%2f2020%2f05%2f22%2fformer-caliphate-capital-is-haunted-by-fears-an-isis-comeback%2f (Accessed: 10.10.20) 7 – Photograph: Amnesty International (2017). Damage After the Military Operation Available at: https:// raqqa-syria.amnesty.org (Accessed: 14.10.20) 8 – Photograph: Uncredited/AP (2014). Show of force: Isis members parade through the streets of Raqqa Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/the-raqqa-diaries-life-under-isis-rule-samer-mike-thomson-syria (Accessed: 14.10.20) 9 – Photograph: Prickett, Ivor/New York Times (10.2017). Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces greeted one another after returning from the frontline in east Raqqa last week. On Tuesday, the American-backed militia group announced that it had taken full control of the city. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/world/ middleeast/isis-syria-raqqa.html (Accessed: 14.10.20) 10 – Photograph: Uncredited/Alahed News (21.10.17). Available at: https://www.english.alahednews.com. lb/24643/499 (Accessed: 14.10.20) 11 – Photograph: Uncredited/AFP (2016). With a myriad of rebel groups, the Aleppo offensive has shown that Syrian rebels can unite. Here are the groups involved in new assault on Aleppo. Available at: https://english. alaraby.co.uk/english/fullimage/6750bef0-2d27-48e2-8b81-d71439586217/e089b62f-437a-4878-bf1078c90c3d7d38 (Accessed: 14.10.20) 26
12 – Torres, Joan (2020). The views from the citadel in Aleppo… No words needed – Is it safe to travel to Syria Available at: https://againstthecompass.com/en/travel-syria/ (Accessed: 14.11.20) 13 – Photograph: Martins, Alice/Washington Post (05.20). A New Sign Was Errected on Naim Square Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fgraphics%2fworld%2f2020%2f05%2f22%2fformer-caliphate-capital-is-haunted-by-fears-an-isis-comeback%2f (Accessed: 10.10.20) 14 – Map by author edited over Google Earth (2020). Available at: https://earth.google.com/web/search/Syria/ (Accessed: 10.10.20). Information by By Ermanarich - derived from the Template: Syrian Civil War detailed map. Modifications made by Ermanarich.En:Module:Syrian_Civil_War, CC BY-SA 4.0, Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50441125 (Accessed: 10.10.20) 15 – Ring, Andrzej; Sandzewicz, Lech. Church of the Holy Cross. All 22 of Bellotto’s street scenes survived the war. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/22/story-cities-warsaw-rebuilt-18th-century-paintings (Accessed: 14.11.20) 16 – Bilderwelt, Galarie; Getty Images (1944). Hitler’s forces destroyed 85% of Warsaw’s historic centre. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/22/story-cities-warsaw-rebuilt-18th-century-paintings (Accessed: 14.11.20) 17 – Mersom, Daryl/The Guardian (2016). A painting on an information board in front of a the rebuilt Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/22/story-cities-warsaw-rebuilt-18th-century-paintings (Accessed: 14.11.20) 18 – Screenshot from: Mehaffy & Salingaros (19.08.20) The Chernobyl Paradox: The Intense Connection Between Health and Living Structure Available at: https://commonedge.org/the-chernobyl-paradox-the-intense-connection-between-health-and-living-structure/ (Accessed: 10.10.20) 19 & 20 – Chart by author, information from Najjar, Ameen & UNOSAT (27.06.18) Damage Caused by the Syrian Civil War: What the Data Say Figure 2 Available at: https://towardsdatascience.com/damage-caused-bythe-syrian-civil-war-what-the-data-say-ebad5796fca8 (Accessed: 05.11.20) 21 - Ghossoun. Available at: https://sana.sy/en/?p=151315 (Accessed: 14.11.20) Torres, Joan (2020). More friendly Syrians – How to visit Syria Available at: https://againstthecompass.com/en/ travel-syria/ (Accessed: 14.11.20) User: ‘Preacher Lad’ (08.01.11). Aleppo Suq Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aleppo-suq-Alp.JPG (Accessed: 14.11.20) 22 – Aga Kahn Trust for Culture (09.19). A sequence showing the restoration of the Al-Saqatiyya Souk, which was finished in September last year. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/aug/29/howsyrias-blasted-cities-are-rising-from-the-ruins (Accessed: 08.10.20) 23 - Time Magazine/Uncredited. Available at: https://commonedge.org/endsars-public-protests-and-the-urban-legacies-of-colonialism-and-military-dictatorship-in-nigeria/ (Accessed: 10.12.20) 24 & 25 - OCHA (2019) Figures from pages 58 and 76, 78 Available at: https://hno-syria.org/#resources (Accessed: 11.11.20) 26 - Open Doors International (2018). Aleppo Will be Back Available at: https://www.worldwatchmonitor. org/2018/02/syrias-second-city-begins-long-road-recovery/ (Accessed: 12.11.20) 27
LIMINAL LANDS: BETWEEN OPPRESSION AND RAPPROCHEMENT Spatial Justice at the Intersection of Architectural, Environmental and Social Frontiers Sean McQueenie December 2020 28