Architecture for Refugees provides an informational platform, educational resources, projects and collaborations which link refugees, refugee settlements and camps with architects, urban planners and designers, NGOs, government and UN agencies, refugee host communities and social and grassroots organisations. By facilitating collaboration between the different stakeholders in each case, by directly involving refugees in these processes and by harnessing and sharing innovative solutions, approaches and intervention models we aim to improve facilities, infrastructure and living conditions for refugees across the world.
Board Members
Core members of the platform AfR are Dennise Castillo Calle, Nasr Chamma, Zsofia Glatz and Bence Komlosi. Dennise Castillo Calle is an architect from Cuenca, Ecuador. She got her Architecture Degree in the University of Cuenca and continued her education in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. She has been living in Europe for the past 4 years, working and collaborating with offices in Switzerland and Germany. She is one of the co-founders of the online platform "Architecture for Refugees". She speaks fluent Spanish, German and English and she is a curious traveler and Photography enthusiast. Passionate about social architecture and good causes. Nasr Chamma is a humanitarian Architect and Refugee Camp Designer and Co-Founder and Board Member of Architecture for Refugees. He has been a member of various humanitarian organizations, including UNHCR-Jordan where he focused his research and projects on the Syrian refugees who live both in urban areas and camps such as Zaatari and Azraq. Moreover he's currently a PhD researcher analyzing different forms of existing refugee camps and working on new models of emergency settlements with the main goal of improving the quality of life and living conditions of refugees. Zsofia Glatz is an architect from Hungary. Bence Komlosi is a researcher, activist, educator and architect.
Intervention Implementation
In our modern society information and the access to knowledge are key values. Providing useful and accessible information and connecting all the parties concerned - from politicians to refugees - would boost up the helping process. The online platform collects ideas, plans and best practices. The platform doesn't do projects, but give the opportunity to share ideas. These ideas alone may be weak but together they can have a huge impact.
The implementation of single ideas or plans are micro-interventions and have a remarkable effect on the local context. With the help of the platform these interventions will gain visibility and participants will feel empowered by being connected to each other. The transformation of these small interventions into a sustainable and large scale strategy depends on every party involved. The platform should be user-friendly, compatible with mobile devices, multilingual and should channel positive attitude.
All our texts and many of our images appear under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License (CC BY-SA). All our content is written and edited by our community.