RAPID SHELTER DISPLACED PEOPLE               SPRING 2021

ARCH 5500/8500 . 3 CREDITS . TUES & THURS 11 AM -12:15 PM 1.

Instructor: Earl Mark, ejmark@virginia.edu
Teaching Assistant: Stephany Stumphauzer, sts3cq@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 80 million forciby displaced people in the world as of mid-2020 or about 10 million more than just two years ago (footnote 2.).

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OVERVIEW

The seminar is divided into three overlapping phases:

I. February, 2021: 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. March, 2021: The seminar transitions to independent work, expands upon some areas of background research, explores links between case studies, and sets the for projects.

III. April - May, 2021: The seminar will focus primarily on the development of individual case studies and emphasize personal feedback sessions.*

Topics include:

• Rapid deployments of light-weight collapsible shelters.
• New settlements of up to 20,000 people.
• Provisioning for community agency, education, social, religious, environmental, economic and health needs.

Individual case study 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 shelter, agriculture, child development, cultural practices, economic activity, humanitarian aid delivery, micro-gardens, health care, or recreation.
• Smart city applications for optimized use of community resources.

In past semesters simulation based upon GIS and decision making gaming technology had been introduced if relevant to the selection of case studies.

Guest discussions will be led by experts from different fields (see who in 2018, 2019 and 2020) in rapid shelter, disaster recovery, child development, health, humanitarian aid, healing landscapes, religion, politics, WASH, .

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. Students from any department at UVA are welcome to enroll.

REQUIREMENTS

Five exercises are focused on the development of a case study and include a final discussion at the end of the term. The first four exercises count for roughly 60% of the grade, the final project (exercise 5) counts for 30% of the grade. Class participation with respect to attendance and consultation with the course instructor and SIA counts towards 10% of the grade.

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND COVID-19

NOTE: The class will be in-person in spring 2022. This syllabus was developed for 2021. A new draft for 2022 is forthcoming, but will follow a similar outline.

Please note that references here to Zoom and virtual attendance will not be applicable to Spring 2022.
This is an online synchronous course. We meet for regular class sessions online via Zoom (Collab “Online Meetings”). Your presence and active participation is important to creating the most effective, step by step sequenced and coherent learning experience. You are not expected to be on Grounds for any assignments or meetings. Virtual attendance is required. Excusable absences are permitted per uva policies and should be communicated to the course instructor and SIA and done in advance if possible.

In spring 2021 our personal and learning circumstances may be different than they were prior to the Covid-19 epidemic. While we face challenges as an education community, the goal is to continue to learn and grow while adjusting for unexpected events. The class is committed to maintaining a healthy and equitable environment for all of us by respecting and making room for differences in how we approach learning. One way to achieve this objective is to encourage case study project choices that give more license to students to be motivated by what interests them, their physical location , resource access limitations, and which encourages everyone to learn from each other.

Your health and well-being are a priority. Please take the time to care for yourself. Monitor your health daily in the HOOS Health Check app. The university asks that if you are ill or expect that you have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home, notify the primary course instructor, and contact the Student Health and Wellness Center (434-924-5362) so that you can receive appropriate care.

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

The university admits undocumented students, students from mixed-status families, and students with Temporary Protected Status. All UVA students, including students of varied immigration statuses, are especially welcomed in this class. If your personal situation is impacting your success in the course, please come see me to discuss things I can do to accommodate you. This support is relevant directly to the topic of forcibly displaced people and therefore is an approach we will fully embrace in the seminar.

SCHEDULE

The following schedule is subject to modification.

Bibliography