PLACEMAKING : A DECENT NEW HOME FOR THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED SYRIANS AT BUFFER ZONE, SYRIA

Abstract

Displacement is a global phenomenon; the causes of displacement vary between violence and natural disasters. Syria remains the world’s largest refugee crisis, having multi-displacement due to several effects such as armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters, especially for the IDSP who moved  to  the  North.  This  research  presents  a  set  of speculations  for making a decent new home for internally displaced Syrian people forced to flee to North Syria (IDSP). Under the theme of placemaking, this study emphasizes the need to consider the limited available means to survive a decent life under the harsh weather of summer and winter. The other major problem is that the IDSP is economically  handicapped.  The  thesis project  aims  to  propose  a prototype decent new home for the IDSP where they can self-sustain by having a proper home to work, live in, and socialize. The project aims to provide passive earth-sheltered houses with vegetable gardens, communal co-op, and seasonal shared farmland, besides having main facilities of the communal masjid with a rescue area and marketplace. This project highlights the suitability of replacing indecent homes with proper decent and passive homes by applying the  strategy  of  earth-sheltered  architecture  and  underground structure to preserve the house heat and coolness throughout the year, which can be a perfect solution for IDP worldwide.