Evaluating the refugee crisis and the housing issue through the space production examples

Has the Syrian refugee crisis influenced the evaluation of production of space? Beyond social assistance, what is the role of architecture in this kind of crisis? How can architecture assist cities in order to prepare them for such a crisis? What types of architectural practices occur in this kind of crisis? This thesis process was initiated by seeking answers to these questions and proceeded by uncovering the manners of the architectural practice in these times of crisis and those who produce the refugee spaces. In the first chapter of study, the thesis scope and its methodology are defined. The second chapter explores the various reasons for the humanitarian crises that face the current migration era. In a new migratory age, detaching from traditional definitions and increasingly gaining new types of meanings; human movement around the globe is causing governments to encounter unexpected situations. Migratory turbulences centred around Middle East and Africa; especially, with the increasing effects of the Syrian Civil War, a migration crisis has occurred all around the world. A closer look in the migratory routes departing from Syria reveals a movement towards the European Countries. One of the main passage ways of this route is Turkey. The definition of 'refugee' has been determined by the Geneva Convention (1951), signed by the European Countries and Turkey in order to define legal rights and positions of the incoming refugees as a result of the forced migrations. Some of the participant countries, such as Turkey, have signed the convention by adding exceptional clauses regarding the refugees' incoming routes. This approach causes different definitions of refugee, considering the exceptional causes by the countries and so gives rise to different legal statues to the refugees. At this point, Turkey, not only with legal uplifts in particular to the Syrian refugees but also with its own geographical nearness to European Countries, is the country that has been hosting and sheltering the most Syrian refugees from the very beginning of the civil war in Syria. Even if the legal uplifts have been undertaken by Turkey, to provide a comfortable stay for the Syrian refugees who constitute four percent of the Turkish population; the situation bears huge significance for both the government and society. Without a clear agreement on the situation of refugees, in the context of permanence and temporariness, legal actions taken are not resolved. The crisis moment happening between these kinds of uncertainties requires action from not only by the government officials, but also from other kinds of disciplines and professions. Architecture has stepped in to provide sheltering solutions for the refugee population. The third chapter of this thesis investigates this topic. While the crisis of immigration is shaking Europe, the profession of architecture has also a breaking point per se. Social concerns are being rendered visible in an era where "starchitect"s thrive. Therefore, in the fourth and the final chapter of the research, emergence and transformations of socially conscious architectural approaches is discussed and the concept of humanitarian architecture is explained on the basis of the media that it was produced. This research aims to provide a record of both transformations-changes in the architectural profession, and architectural production happening in this moment of crisis. In this context, the research contain a literature review and examples on the topics of Syrian refugee crisis, and concepts of social and humanitarian architecture. The research aims to evaluate the solutions provided for the need for the raising housing demands in the cities where the migratory acts accelerate, in the infamous triad of user-architecture-capital. The selected examples have been discussed through Lefebvre, Karatani, Wigley and De Carteau's production of space discourses. It is discussed that, the "customer-architect" production relation -which was founded upon economic conditions in the first half of 21st century- had become questionable with "user-architect" relations and related experiments regarding the space-production. The greatest problems that refugees encounter is visible in the territories where they cross the border and their main destinations where there are large cities. In the research, three main forms of settlements they inhabit are investigated under the following headlines: satellite cities, refugee camps and refugee settlements within cities. The research discusses the produced spaces on the basis of permanance-temporariness relations and "sense of belonging". The research ends with a project which aims to provide temporary shelter within city for the refugees is proposed and Istanbul has been suggested as an example city. The scope of project is to provide temporary solutions for the urgent shelter need of the refugees starting from their moment to their arrival in the cities. The project intends to dissolve rigid boundaries surfaced between the city and the refugee camps; and as an extension of these boundaries, the disassociations between locals and refugees. In this respect, the thesis looks for a solution, which can help refugees to integrate in the whole city and fasten the social compatibility processes. In the proposal, in collaboration with local authorities, remodelling some structurally durable abandoned buildings and providing open-plan solutions in the interior, which are capable of changing according to the situation. Within the project, proposals about flexible space include modular furniture, storage spaces and panel-systems. The proposal, beyond being a solution only for the housing crisis, also aims to provide architectural schemes to needs related to nourishing, wellbeing, and working. To create a dynamic relationship between the built environment and the chosen abandoned structure, common production and social spaces are defined as design principles. In a possible collaboration between designers, locals, government and refugees, the project itself is applicable in EU and Turkey at varying scales. To conclude, it is obvious that the crisis created by overflows of Syrian refugees has altered the architectural practice. The alterations in the society, users and/or the people who are in the need effects those who are going to re-shape the cities. The common perception created is as important as architectural practices completed by the architects. As an extension of this, an important role is given to the architects, which is between refugees and government authorities.