matterbetter.com has initiated an international open ideas competition for architecture students and young architects to research new housing concepts for the future of post-war Syria. The civil war in Syrian Arab Republic, which started in 2011, has created the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. According to UNHCR, over 4,300,000 people have left the country and fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and now Europe. While world leaders are looking for an international solution to the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, many Syrians are looking forward to the opportunity to come back home as soon as the war is over.
Competition participants are asked to propose a solution for a housing scarcity crisis, which will affect the country as more and more cities of the war-torn country are freed and refugees start to come back. Living conditions in the current refugee camps and temporary buildings across Europe and other countries are mostly inhuman, making refugees feel desperate, since there’s also nowhere to come back to as Syrian towns are in ruins, offering nothing to the people who once lived there.
The vital part of the new housing concept should be the creation of living conditions that will be attractive for once displaced Syrians to return to. People, who spent years in temporary shelters and adapted buildings, will look for “solid ground” to begin a new life. The new housing concept should be able to permanently accommodate people in need of a new home and become a new page in the history of Syria.
