Arch 5500 . 3 Credit Seminar . T & Th 9:30-10:45 am . Campbell 107 1.
RAPID SHELTER DISPLACED PEOPLE SPRING 2020
Arch 5500 . 3 Credit Seminar . T & Th 9:30-10:45 am . Campbell 107 1.
Syllabus (Draft 1.2 1.11.20)
Instructor: Earl Mark, ejmark@virginia.edu, 322 Campbell Hall
Teaching Assistant: Joseph Snitzer, jps2bd@virginia.edu
Rapid Shelter Displaced People is an independent projects and interdisciplinary seminar. It is open to graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline by petition on SIS. It's goal is to reframe the provisioning of rapidly deployed refugee housing and commonly used spaces and facilities with longer term health, security, opportunity and healing in mind.
There are over 70.8 million forciby displaced people in the world today or about 2 million more than just one year ago.
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The seminar is divided into three overlapping phases:
I. January - Februrary, 2020: The seminar begins with general weekly discussions, in-class exercises and guest talks in order to arrive at a larger view of the state of current thinking and practice. Focus begins on some topics that reflect the more specific interests of seminar participants.
II. February - March, 2020: The seminar incrementally transitions to independent work, expanding upon some areas of background research, and setting the direction for more detailed individual projects.
III. March - April 2020: The seminar will focus almost entirely on independent research and development of individual projects and emphasize personal feedback sessions.*
Key general topics include:
* Rapid deployments of light-weight collapsible shelters.
* New settlements of up to 20,000 people
* Provisioning for social, religious, environmental, economic and health needs.
Individual research projects will be encouraged that relate to the built environment such as (but not limited to):
* Expermentation with UNHCR camp planning and shelter standards.
* Propositions for physically accommodating humanitarian aid, micro-economics, cultural practices, gardens, agriculture, health care, or recreation.
* Smart city applications for optimized use of spatially based community resources.
Simulation based upon GIS and the Unity VR game engine will be introduced. Students may elect to participate in a an ongoing demonstration project or pursue indepenent projects based upon this technology.
Guest discussions will be led by experts from different fields (lists from 2018 & 2019) in design, health, humanitarian aid, religion and politics.
Note that the the class counts as an architectural elective under the default letter grade option. It can alternatively be taken pass/fail as an open elective.
An informal review of the independent research projects will be held in May as an alternative to a final exam. The timing may be adjusted to not conflict with final studio reviews held within the School of Architecture.
Schedule
The following schedule is subject to modification. The speakers identified below are from 2019. Some of these speakers and are likely to be returning in 2020. The schedule will be finalized in January.
| PART I | Analysis |
| Jan. 14 - 16 | Introduction Assignment 1: Literature search and selected readings. |
| Jan. 21 - 23 | Refugee Encampments, Variations, Historical Conditions, Existing Guidelines and Standards, Hassan Fathy's Architectural Theory |
| Jan. 28 - 30 | Assignment 2: Hypothesis and proposal. |
| PART II | Proposition |
| Feb. 4 - 6 | Encampments and Community Based Solutions |
| Feb. 11 - 13 | Long Term Impacts, Design and Behavior, Human Ecology Guest Talk 4: Prof. Reubin Rainey (2/23), Landscape Architecture: Healing Landscapes, Conflict, Security, Privacy, Community, Health and Space |
| Feb. 18 - 20 | Assignment 3: First Draft Guest Talk 5: Prof. Jenny Roe, Planning (2/20): Green Space, PTSD, Children and Teen Environmental Therapy |
| PART III | Development |
| Feb. 25 - 27 | Guest Talk 6: Director and Professor of Practice Kirsten Gelsdorf(3/27): Emergency Relief and Humanitarian Aid |
| Mar. 3 - 5 | Project / case study development and discussion workshops. Guest Talk 7: Prof. Fern Hauck, MD (3/5), Refugee Family Practice, Medical Care Refugee camp doctor in Thailand for refugees fleeing Cambodia. |
| Mar. 10 - 12 | S P R I N G B R E A K |
| Mar. 17 -19 | Guest Talk 8: Harriett Kuhr(3/17), Executive Director IRC: Resettlement Issues.Integration into industry, commerce. Humanitarian aid for refugees in Africa. Guest Talk 9: Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Kory C. Russel, Univeristy of Oregon (3/19), WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) services and deployment strategy in forcibly displaced people encampments (Haiti, Kenya, and Peru) |
| PART IV | Reflection |
| Modified Class Schedule | Mar - 31 - Apr. 9: smaller groups meet less frequently at regular class times |
| Mar.24 - 26 | Assignment 4: Reflection, evaluation and modification. Guest Talk - Live Gaming Simulation 10: Prof. Noah Myung (3/26), Director Center for Leadership, Live Gaming Simulation TowardsDetermining Public Policies. |
| Mar. 31 - Apr. 3 | Project / case study development_Part1 |
| Apr. 7 - 9 | Project / case study development_Part1 |
| PART V | Conclusion |
| Modified Class Schedule | April 14- 23: smaller groups meet less frequently at regular class times |
| Apr. 14 - 16 | Assignment 5: Case Study Conclusion |
| Apr. 21- 23 | Project / case study development_Part2 |
| Apr. 28 | Project / case study development_Part2 |
| TBA | Final Case Study Discussion on May 4 or TBA pending studio review schedule |
1.Left to right aerial images: Sequence shows the quick growth of the Zaatari Refugee Community in Jordan from September 2012 to March 2013. Aerial photos and displaced people figures graphic: http://www.unhcr.org.