Completion Date: 8/25/2016
Square Footage: 50
Building Use: A temporary Home for a Refugee
Location: European Nations (Germany, Hungary, Finland, etc.)
Project Description:
I came to this country as a refugee, running away from the terror in my homeland (Iraq). I personally lived in Syria for more than two years as my family’s case was getting observed by the United Nation and the United States Embassy. And now I am here, in the land of the free. My name is Ghazi Ammar Ghazi and I am an architecture student at Orange Coast College. I feel it is my responsibility to help my people, the Syrian people (who welcomed me in their country), and all of the other refugees around the world. I have never experienced living in a tent, but I don’t think it will be the same as living in a home. This is why I came up with a Home for a Refugee idea. There are currently millions of refugees who are fleeing their land to Europe. Many nations welcomed them, but many refugees are sleeping in tents every day. Some nations have provided old unusable buildings for some refugees, but most of them are still living in tents or the UN shelters, which are not suitable for the freezing winters. My idea was to create something that can be produced for a cheap price, built easily, and is protective. This is why this home will be made out of a new discovered metal (High Specific Strength Steel), wood that is insulated with spray foam, hard plastic windows, and some large screws. The High Specific Strength Steel was newly discovered in South Korea and the scientist said it will be cheap, strong as titanium, light, flexible, and easy to produce. Furthermore, the wooden walls, floor, and ceiling will all have different and small thicknesses (cheaper price and easier to carry), but all of them will have a layer of foam insulated in them as they are produced in the factory. This will keep the home warm in the cold European winters and cool in the summer. Finally, the windows will be made out hard plastic for the cheaper cost and for the sustainability. There will only be windows on the side walls, because the home can be built in any direction and the sun’s direction is unknowable. As I was designing I faced one challenge. I would keep leaving gaps between the surfaces (caused by the steel columns) and for this reason I had to keep redesigning the shape of the steel columns. The home might not look the best from our point of view, but it will be the best thing ever for a Syrian family that have been sleeping in a tent for the past two years. My goal was not to produce something fancy, but I wanted to create a home that is cheap, sustainable, and can extend easily. My goal was also to paint these homes with different colors (if it is financially possible) to make the refugees happier and to show a happier side for these peaceful people, as the news’s drones film the colorful camps.
C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment
Submitted By: |
Ghazi Ghazi |
Design Architect: |
Ghazi Ghazi |
Associate Architect or Firm: |
|
Landscape Architect: |
|
Owner / Developer: |
|
Engineer: |
|
General Contractor: |
|
Consultant: |
Hungary Today (info in Image 10) phys.org (info about steel in image 3) |
Photographer: |
Osman Orsal. Newsweek (background for image 1) |
A home for a Refugee
Category
Inspire
Description
The jury thought this projects provides a dignified protective shelter that can be individualized through its modularization.
Congratulations Ghazi Ghazi.
Winner Status
- Citation Award