Active involvement in place shaping is a key empowerment mechanism and
a strong means of creating cohesion within communities. Refugee camps
are a unique form of human habitation that lack this, temporary spaces
that emerge between war and city and play a formative role in
residents' migratory story. They are harsh deteriorating environments
that are planned as temporary settlements yet often end up housing
families for decades if not more.
Within the context of Dadaab (largest refugee camp in the world), this
thesis proposes a cottage industry of sisal (a plant material with the
tensile strength of steel) that fosters a homegrown architecture of
maintained permanence to fill the gap separating emergency needs from
long term sustainable habitation but more importantly engages issues
such as economics and human empowerment.
-M Arch Thesis Spring 2013 _ Princeton University School of Architecture
