THE RIGHT TO WATER
The Potential of the Camps' Urban Topography
Jun Seong Ahn | Majed Abdulsamad | Isabel Carrasco | Haochen Yang
WHAT IF THE IRREGULARITY OF REFUGEE CAMP URBAN FABRIC BECAME A SECOND TOPOGRAPHY TO SERVE THE RIGHT TO WATER?
“Camps are established with the intention of being demolished. (...)
They are meant to have no history and no future; they are meant to be forgotten”
(PETTI, Alessandro (DAAR), “The Architecture of Exile IV. B”. Retrieved from: http://www.e-flux.com/architecture/refugee-heritage/. February, 2017.)
They are meant to have no history and no future; they are meant to be forgotten”
(PETTI, Alessandro (DAAR), “The Architecture of Exile IV. B”. Retrieved from: http://www.e-flux.com/architecture/refugee-heritage/. February, 2017.)
For a 70-year-old refugee camp that grew organically over the years from a collection of tents into a large informal working class neighborhood, access to resources like water and electricity is a critical matter. An adequate and independent rainwater collection system has the capacity to empower the population towards sustainable access to resources beyond regional limitations, while providing structural basis for future vertical growth in the dense city of Amman. Through a system of decentralized micro-water collection and storage units, the project aims to create an extended network of reservoirs embedded in the built fabric. Within this context, the urban fabric performs as a second topography that can be molded and reshaped through various interventions ranging from the use of elevated light structures that capture and divert the flow of water, to the provision of storage facilities.
References (Baqaa Refugee Camp: http://bit.ly/2p2BleM) (Al Hussein Camp: http://bit.ly/2pUJsyN)
HOW CAN WE ADDRESS WATER SCARCITY TO HELP REFUGEES AND BRING UP AWARENESS OF THE CRISIS TO THE WORLD?
Within a regional context of dependency and subordination, The Right To Water, utilizes the irregularity and extreme density of the refugee camp to empower the population towards water independency by the implementation of an extended network of decentralized micro water collection and storage units embedded in the built fabric.
There are few refugee camps in the Amman Municipality and they are growing with a clear water scarcity.
Al-hussein Camp Urban Topography
The urban fabric performs like a second topography that can be molded and reshaped through various interventions ranging from the use of elevated light structures that divert the flow of water while providing shade and opportunity for new programs on roof-scapes, to the provision of storage facilities.
System Typology - Collection to Consumption
The storage containers, which also filtrate the water using alternative techniques, are hidden in tanks that provide structural support for future vertical growth, or are contained in planters, outdoor seating, stairs and smaller portable devices designed for a seasonal storage. The tanks are interconnected by aqueducts and gutters to assure an equal distribution of the collected water as it overflows from small-scale individual tanks on the roofs into more collective reservoirs in the ground. The sequential overflow of water leads to an underground tank located in the lowest point of the newly reshaped-topography, which also becomes a point of “water revelation“ through a collective usage of water happening in the programs above it. This community space is flexible enough to allocate different programs like common kitchens and gardens, places for meetings and children to play, kindergartens, medical assistance, weddings, among others. Thus, the proposed water collection and storage extends its value beyond the functional infrastructure to become an element of finding and activating much-needed open spaces for gathering and social interactions across the camp.
Typical Al-hussein Camp Block with embedded Water System Intervention
|
|
|
|
|
Intervention Typologies
The Right To Water advocates for a system to be carried out individually and collectively by its own residents (DIY). This will not only allow for independence and flexibility in terms of implementation, but will also become part of the legacy and memory of the camp to be left for future populations.
The camp will never be forgotten.