Do Good by Doing Well
Design in the Humanitarian Field
Zhuo Pang (MAUD '18)
IBTASEM playground in Lebanon by Catalytic Action
Source: http://www.catalyticaction.org/all-project-list/playground-syrian-refugees/
This time last year, I was reading a book called “Design like you give a damn: architectural responses to humanitarian crises[1].” by Architecture for Humanity (AFH). It was interesting to find out that although the phrase “humanitarian architect” were repeatedly used in the book, the title framed it as “architectural responses to humanitarian crises”, potentially in response to the debate that all architects wish to do good and separating humanitarian architects from the others is not very legitimate and may form further barriers.
To me, the difference between what is humanitarian or not lies in the context of practice rather than the goal of practitioners. Architectural practice in the humanitarian field has only begun to be noticed in the last two decades, especially after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. In the context of intensified natural disaster, forced displacement and consistent global poverty, the crisis has been protracted and the boundary between temporary and permanent, between humanitarian and development have been blurred. In the old days when people were only going to be displaced shortly and a simple shelter (often in the form of a tent or an isobox) would do the work, it was engineers rather than architects whoprovided solutions. The most important evaluation criteria were efficiency and financial feasibility. Nowadays, however, when the average time of displacement of refugees are 17 years (according to UNHCR), people need more than that.
The physical environment impacts people’s mindsets. Sharing room with 7 strangers deprives the right to privacy; Living in the repeatedly placed isoboxes deprives people of identity. Surviving in “minimalism” without amenities deprives the sense of community. In a word, people suffering from humanitarian crises are exactly those who aspire for normalcy, for all the simple things they could do before everything got messed up. And this is where designers and planners can contribute.
This is not an easy path because of the almost intrinsic challenges in humanitarian practice. I want to point out a few based on my observation:
1. The challenge of building in conflict areas
Humanitarian design often happens in an area without official governments, committed clients, competent contractors and formal tenure system. At the same time, humanitarian players on the ground often have their own agendas and are responsible to specific donors. Repetition of work is typical and pilot solutions get implemented everywhere. This brings many difficulties in terms of partnership, implementation and maintenance.
2. The challenge of forming community
Many design efforts celebrate the idea of “creating a sense of community” through place-making; however, in the humanitarian field, people can come from very different income and ethnical groups and they have been packed in such high density. Without mutual trust, the community is simply non-existent.
3. The challenge between temporary and permanent.
In the spectrum of temporary, transient and permanent, architects are more comfortable dealing with the last one; however, it is not rare to see what was designed to be used as transient housing become permanent in practice. On the other side, people may not welcome permanent architecture because they do not perceive this place as their final destinations (they may want to return to their home countries or seek asylum in another wealthier country) and any permanent gestures are perceived by people as consolidation of their current condition.
Challenges remain. Those humanitarian practices that are successful must do well in architect first. As Shigeru Ban put in this way: “you need to be a good architect in the first place.” As cliché as it may sound, a good intention, an adaptive mindset and professionalism shall do the work.
Bibliography:
Architecture for Humanity (Organization). 2006. Design like you give a damn: architectural responses to humanitarian crises. New York: Metropolis Books.