“There is no justifi cation for making people live in captivity stripped of the right to work, based on the fact that they were born on the other side of a border.” - Jacob Appel

seeks shelter from danger

political

seeks better opportunity

economical

“Available information suggests there were 42 million forcibly dis-placed people worldwide at the end of 2008. The United Nations Offi ce for the Coordination of Hu-manitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there are an additional 25 million people who have been dis-placed due to natural di-sasters.”

- UN Refugee Agency

refugee origin

refugee destination

“But no government, how-ever benign and generous, can be expected to allow hundreds of thousands of people from a neighboring country to enjoy a high-er standard of living than the native population, so great pressure exists to cap the amount of aid available or at least to avoid its conspicuous dis-play.”

- Jim Lewis, NY Times

"Asylum policy is a mat-ter for governments, not the Red Cross... It is our job to meet the needs of people caught up in refu-gee crises, not to judge them."

- Sir Nicholas, IFRC

voluntary repatriation to the home country

resettlement in anoth-er country

permanent integration in country of asylum

“Can a border be infra-structure and provide a frame for non conformity? Could transnational col-laboration create an ur-banism beyond the property line?”

- Teddy Cruz

case study Myanmar

As of December 31, 2005, the largest source coun-tries of refugees are Af-ghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Palestinian Territories.

By nationality, the main benefi ciaries of the UNH-CR-facilitated resettle-ment programmes in 2008 were refugees from Myanmar (23,200).

More than three quarters of the world’s refugees seek asylum in neighbour-ing countries or the im-mediate region.

refugees in asia

myanmar

political unrest since 1962

ethnic cleansing indige-nous cultures

natural disaster cyclone Nargis May 2008

emigration is illegal

thailand

didn’t sign 1951 UNCHR Refugees Convention

150,000 burmese in camps150,000 burmese in cities

half camp population < 18

temporary bamboo shelterscamps since 1984 (25 yrs)

case study : modern nomadic life

design

what are generic charac-teristics of settlements?

what is the potential in the architectural scale?

what is the role of space in the shifting identity?

does the socio-urban fab-ric survive the changes?

unclaimed territory

methodology and planning

theoretical research- temporary settlements- extraterritorialism- autarky and trade- integration

fi eld research- nomadic- camp life- urban ghetto- resettlement