Configuring p.15 2 Forming p.38

0////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The report describes the design process/workflow for the urban redevlelopment of Al Zaatari Refugee Camp by proposing the ‘recipe’ to design a ‘Cultural Centre’ for and by the residents of the camp. The average Displaced Person (DP) camp exists for 17 years, hobbling the generation of children who grow up not knowing nothing of the world their parents left, nor the world they will eventually arrive into. The people in Zaatari have no home to go home to. This chapters illustrates the problem statement, motivation for design, research and material analysis of the camp. The methodology / workflow will be explained in detail in the subsequent chapters. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

A brief section explaining the current state of the camp, and the motivation of the project

The aim of the report is to elaborate on the design and learning process of the project ‘Theaterra’. During the initial weeks of the course, an analysis showed that the majority of the Al’ Zaatari camp population (56%) is under 18, and they have mostly not experienced life elsewhere. Culture is being treated as secondary since organizations are only focusing on essential needs. We propose a cultural center built by the people themselves, allowing for the transfer of Syrian culture, knowledge, and craftsmanship to the younger generation. The project Theaterra aims to craft an oasis of culture within a camp.

The general framework, the course AR3B011 EARTHY (popularly known as EARTHY 4.0) at TU Delft, Building Technology Master Programme is crafted to continually improve the living conditions in the refugee camp, by building with earth as a poetic representation to the vernacular Syrian Architecture. EARTHY 4.0 is dedicated to design of Gothic Structures and the challenge is to design/engineer earth/masonry buildings under compression with a focus on relations of materials, shapes and structures explored computationally each time by adding a layer of complexity and value to logic in configuration and Layout, form finding and shaping followed by verification through the phase of structuring and finally by illustrating the construction process essential to realize the design.

The structure of the report will follow the logic of the course, starting with justifying the need for a cultural centre, and building the campus in phases. Introducing the theatre as a primary hero followed by supporting workshops and commercial spaces. This is followed by configuring the rules of the layout. The next step is forming and shaping the modules followed by testing through Structural Analysis. In the Construction phase, a brick module is designed and material properties are explored.

The project ‘Theaterra’ is a participatory design game that works as a game and a framework to enable the residents of the community to come together to learn and build something that they are proud of.

Figure 0.1 - A glimpse of the refugee camp at Al Za’atari. Source: ABC News, the Za’atari refugee camp seen from a cherry picker.

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then the world’s newest slum, Zaatari in Jordan, is a fourlane highway there” -David Smith

AL Za’atari Camp, Jordan

The Al Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan’s Mafraq Governorate opened on July 28, 2012, as part of a UN-sponsored aid effort to shelter individuals displaced by the Syrian civil conflict.

It is located near Jordan’s northern border with Syria and has become a symbol of Syrian displacement. Since then, the camp has expanded from a modest collection of tents to a 76,000-strong urban community, reflecting both the camp’s inhabitants’ needs and aspirations, as well as a shift to a more predictable, costeffective, and participative platform for aid distribution (UNHCR, 2020).`

Except in extreme situations, refugee groups never fade; either they integrate into their new neighborhoods or they become bitter outcasts. The host country’s government (because it would have to provide for the newcomers), the relief agencies (because they would have to cater for the newcomers) all want to deny this.