Structures of Displacement 9783035623055, 9783035623048

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
Structures of Displacement
Harsham Camp Agricultural Training Center
Harsham Camp Garden
Reconstruction Support to Affected Communities in Iraq Project 150328
Channels of Distribution
Temporary & Permanent: The Invisible Structures
Flowers in the Desert
Biographies
References

Citation preview

Structures

of Displacement

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Edition Angewandte Book Series of the University of Applied Arts Vienna Edited by Gerald Bast, Rector

Structures of Displacement

Baerbel Mueller, Frida Robles and the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Eds.)

Birkhäuser Basel

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Table of Contents

Structures of Displacement — Baerbel Mueller, Frida Robles Research Project

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Harsham Camp Agricultural Training Center — [a] FA / Stefanie Theuretzbacher

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Harsham Camp Garden — Kieran Fraser Landscape Design Reconstruction Support to Affected Communities in Iraq Project 150328 — UNIDO

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Symposium Lab

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Channels of Distribution — Jonathan Paljor Temporary & Permanent: The Invisible Structures — Chien-hua Huang

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Flowers in the Desert — Alejandra Loreto Exhibition Biographies

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References

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266 276 278

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Structures of Displacement

There is an important silence to be kept. We, setting up this project, do not know the pain of being displaced, nor the trauma of being a survivor of a war or an open persecution; we do not know the futurelessness of living in a camp. So it is with humbleness that we reflect upon these matters that are, as Hannah Arendt aptly called them, “crimes against humanity”.

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The number of displaced people in the world is shocking – and is steadily rising. The UNHCR has reported that, in 2018, the number of displaced people in the world amounted to 70.8 million, and in Iraq alone, 1.8 million people were internally displaced. In our currently globalized world, it would be naïve and irresponsible to disregard the interdependency of global politics. Europe has insisted on the formulation of the “refugee crisis” as a situation affecting the richest continent in the world; figures show that the vast majority of refugees and IDPs in the world are hosted by neighboring countries and countries facing conflict themselves. Forced displacement inscribes itself in a set of complex social, economic, geographical, legal and cultural variables. It is impossible to try to reflect upon this global humanitarian phenomenon without assessing the structures that enable it. Per definition, a structure is an arrangement of interrelated elements; a specific composition that enables either a physical or a social form. We, therefore, ask ourselves, what are the spatial and social structures of human displacement? Which particular composition of elements sets the ground for its intrinsically emergent properties? In 2016, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) invited [applied] Foreign Affairs to collaborate on a project that addresses internal human displacement in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This was a thought-provoking invitation. “Structures of Displacement” reflects upon this collaboration, which has resulted in the conception and design of a communal facility that has been implemented next to Erbil’s Harsham Camp. Zooming out from this project to a global discourse, “Structures of Displacement” questions the roles of mapping, planning, architecture, and spatial manifestations within such contexts. Being conscious of the fact that designing solutions could further the problematics, we want to reflect on, share, and discuss the potentials and limits of such challenges. Baerbel Mueller Frida Robles

Research

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on The collaborative project between [ applied ] Foreign Affairs and UNIDO started with a research phase focusing on spatial, infrastructural, programmatic, sociocultural and gender‐based factors regarding displacement in Northern Iraq. The outcome was structured into four categories: the Urban Dimension of Erbil & Camps, the Cultural Dimension, the Programmatic Dimension, and the Architectural & Climatic Dimension. Over the course of an initial field research trip in June 2016, Erbil and its camps were investigated in order to identify a site, and to define a programmatic and typological brief for an architectural infrastructure that would respond to both local demands and UNIDO’s agenda. Meetings with local authorities, camp managers, camp inhabitants, IOM and other UN organizations served to establish a better understanding of the situation at hand. Camps were visited respectively, with a focus on communal facilities and conversations about livelihood perspectives that took place during these visits. Data research on factual aspects of displacement within Kurdish Iraq, and on a global scale, was conducted as a means to create a framework for the project. A chronology of recent conflicts in Iraq was traced back in time in order to historically situate the problems that the project would be confronted with. Furthermore, research into the discourse on displacement from different disciplinary perspectives was condensed in the form of quotes, which are now dispersed throughout this publication.

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Displace ment

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IDP Refugee A refugee is someone who has crossed an international border to escape some form of risk of serious harm in their country of origin. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War, paired with ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. According to the UN, the refugee definition is declaratory, i.e. a person is a refugee as soon as they fulfill the cri­teria contained in the definition. Being a refugee enti­tles the person to a number of rights, including the right not to be sent back to their country of origin.

According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, an internally displaced person or IDP, is someone who has been forced to flee their home or place of habitual residence as a result of – or in order to avoid – the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, vio­la­­­t­ions of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters, but who has never crossed an international border. These individuals seek safety anywhere: in nearby towns, schools, settlements, internal camps, even forests and fields. This is a de­scrip­tive definition, which does not confer a special legal status because IDPs who remain inside their country are therefore entitled to all the rights and guarantees of their country as citizens of that country. As such, national authorities have the primary responsibility to prevent forced displacement and to protect IDPs.

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Territory can be seen as the crucial problem in the contemporary crisis of the nationst ate or, more precisely, of the crisis of the relationship between nation and state. Insofar as nation-state ideolog ies rest on some sor t of implicit idea of ethnic co­her­ence and citizenship rights they are bound to minoritize, degrade, penalize, or expel those seen to be ethnically minor.

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Arjun Appadurai

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Iraq’s Chronology of Conflicts

1980

February Saddam Hussein proposes a pan-Arab charter calling for a “non-aligned ” Arab world and opposing the presence of any superpower in the region. September Iran begins shelling Iraqi border towns. Iraq considers this the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War. The main issue is over the control of the Shatt al Arab waterway, an essential resource providing for water and transportation that runs along the border. The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( KDP) works closely with Iran.

1983

An Iranian counterattack opens a northern front in Kurdish northern Iraq. With support from KDP fighters, Iranian troops take the key town of Hajj Umran. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) agrees to a ceasefire with Iraq and begins negotiations on Kurdish autonomy.

1979–2004 Saddam Hussein in power

1985

1979

July President Ahmed Hassan alBakr resigns; his vice president, Saddam Hussein, succeeds him.

1980–1988 Iraq-Iran War

March Iran and Iraq fire missiles into each other’s population centers (Tehran,Tabriz, Shiraz, Baghdad, Kirkuk and Basra), beginning their “war of cities”.

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March Around 1.5 million Kurds flee before the Iraqi onslaught, but Turkey closes its borders, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in the mountains.

1986

1990

Iranian government sponsors a meeting reconciling the KDP and PUK; both major Kurdish parties are receiving support from Tehran.

August Iraqi troops invade Kuwait. Saddam Hussein justifies the attack by blaming Kuwait for falling oil prices.

August Iraq bombs Iran’s oil-loading facilities.

August The UN imposes economic sanctions on Iraq.

1987

August U.S. military forces arrive in Saudi Arabia.

January Saddam Hussein calls for ceasefire. Iran rejects it again.

November The UN issues a Security Council resolution setting January 15, 1991 as the deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, authorizing the use of “all necessary means” if it does not comply.

January Iran seizes the western bank of the Shatt al Arab Jalal Talabani river. Massoud Barzani joins forces with a number of smaller Kurdish factions to create the Kurdistan Front.

1988

February to September Iraq retaliates against the Kurds for supporting Iran and through “Operation Anfal”, kills civilians or forces them to relocate. Thousands flee to Turkey. March Iraq attacks Kurdish town of Halabjah with poison gas, killing thousands. August Iran-Iraq War ends. An estimated 1.5 million have died in the conflict.

1991 1990–2003 UN economic sanctions against Iraq 1990–2010 UN economic sanctions on oil revenue

January Iraq ignores the UN ultimatum.

January The Persian Gulf War begins when Operation Desert Storm is launched by a U.S.-led coalition of 32 countries, a campaign of air strikes against Iraq begins. January Ground forces invade Kuwait and Iraq, vanquish the Iraqi army, and liberate Kuwait. February President George H. W. Bush declares a ceasefire.

April Formal ceasefire is signed. Saddam Hussein accepts UN resolution, agreeing to destroy weapons of mass destruction and allowing UN inspectors to monitor the disarmament. April A no-fly zone is established in Northern Iraq to protect the Kurds from Saddam Hussein. April Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani open negotiations with Saddam Hussein on autonomy for Kurdistan. July UN weapons inspectors report that Iraq has concealed much of its nuclear and chemical weapons programs. July Kurdish Peshmerga forces take control of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, in defiance of Iraqi government orders. October Saddam Hussein fortifies the border of Kurdish-held northern Iraq and imposes a blockade.

1992

August A southern no-fly zone is created to protect the Shiite population and provide a buffer between Kuwait and Iraq.

1994–1997

Civil war in the northern region of Iraq involving KDP and PUK forces.

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People internally displaced due to conflict/violence & disasters 2016 Canada 93,000

Cuba 1,079,000

Haiti 180,000

Dominican Rep. 52,000

United States of America 1,107,000

Mexico 12,000 | 23,000 El Salvador 480 | 220,000 Colombia 31,000 | 171,000 Ecuador 289,000

Libya 156,000 Sudan 123,000 | 97,000 Niger 46,000 | 166,000 Chad 5,600 | 36,000 Nigeria 78,000 | 501,000 Senegal 24,000 Cameroon 83,000 Congo 25,000

Tanzania 36,000 Mozambique 7,000 | 15,000

Disasters

Turkey 200 | 204,000

Syria 824,000

Iraq 659,000

April Iraq drains water from southern marshlands in retaliation for the Shiites’ long-standing opposition to Saddam Hussein’s government.

1995

April A UN Security Council’s “oil-forfood” resolution allows Iraq to export oil in exchange for humanitarian aid. Iraq accepts the terms after one and a half years.

1997

January PUK announces a new government based in Sulaymaniyah. Both the PUK and KDP claim jurisdiction over the entire Kurdish-controlled north.

Afghanistan 7,400 | 653,000 China 7,434,000 Nepal 31,000 India 2,400,000 | 448,000 Dem. People’s Rep. of Korea 107,000 Japan 7,434,000 Bangladesh 614,000

Sri Lanka 500,000

Myanmar 509,000 | 35,000

Ethiopia 347,000 | 296,000 Somalia Thailand 70,000 | 113,000 90,000 South Sudan Vietnam 281,000 81,000 Kenya Indonesia 40,000 1,246,000 | 350 Uganda 2,500 | 23,000

Philippines 5,930,000 | 280,000

Fiji 76,000

Madagaskar 51,000

1998

January Iraq suspends all cooperation with the UN inspectors, demanding for economic sanctions to be lifted.

1994

Yemen 45,000 | 478,000

Taiwan 45,000

Central African Rep. 7,500 | 46,000 Dem. Rep. Congo 130,000 | 922,000 Burundi 6,600 | 16,000

Conflict/violence

More than 3,000,000 1,000,000–3,000,000 200,001–1,000,000 20,001–200,00 Less than 20,000

Ukraine 130 | 109,000 Israel 75,000 Italy 31,000

2003

December The United States and Great Britain begin four days of intensive air strikes, dubbed Operation Desert Fox. The attacks focus on command centers, missile factories, and airfields.

March U.S.-led coalition forces invade Iraq and begin bombardment of Baghdad and other cities. Mosul and Kirkuk come under heavy fire. April U.S. forces take control of the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul.

1999

January Weekly, sometimes daily, bombings of Iraqi targets within the northern no-fly zone begin, carried out by U.S. and British bombers. More than 100 air strikes take place during 1999 and continue regularly over the next years.

December Saddam Hussein is captured in Tikrit.

2004

June U.S. hands sovereignty to interim government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

2002

September U.S. President George W. Bush tells UN that Iraq poses “grave and gathering danger”.

2003–2011 U.S. invasion

November Major U.S.-led offensive against insurgents in Falluja.

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People internally displaced due to conflict/violence 2016 Bosnia and Herzegovina 98,000

Ukraine 1,653,000

Cyprus Turkey 272,000 1,108,000

Palestine 193,000

Georgia 208,000

Syria 6,326,000

Azerbaijan 582,000 Iraq 2,648,000 Afghanistan 1,553,000 Pakistan 464,000 Nepal 50,000 India 796,000

Egypt 78,000 Libya 304,000 Chad 108,000 Niger 144,000 Mali 37,000 Senegal 24,000

Mexico 311,000 Guatemala 257,000 Honduras 190,000 Colombia 7,246,000 Peru 62,000

Bangladesh 426,000 Myanmar 644,000 Thailand 35,000

Nigeria 1,955,000

40.3m in total

Philippines 87,000 Sri Lanka 44,000

Yemen 1,974,000 Somalia 1,107,000

Côte d’Ivoire 301,000 Cameroon 177,000 Central African Rep. 412,000 Congo 33,000 Sudan 3,300,000 Dem. Rep. Congo 2,230,000 South Sudan 1,854,000

Ethiopia 258,000 Kenya 138,000 Uganda 53,000 Burundi 59,000

More than 1,500,000 500,001–1,500,000 100,001– 500,000 20,001–100,00 Less than 20,000

October Voters approve a new constitution, which aims to create an Islamic federal democracy.

2005

January Elections for a transitional national assembly. April Amid escalating violence, parliament selects Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, is appointed prime minister. May At least 50 people are killed in a suicide bomb attack on police recruits in Erbil. June Massoud Barzani is sworn in as regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan.

December Iraqis vote for the first full-term government and parliament since the U.S.-led invasion.

2006

February A bomb attack on an important Shia shrine in Samarra unleashes a wave of sectarian violence in which hundreds of people are killed. November Iraq and Baathist Syria restore diplomatic relations after nearly a quarter of a century. December Saddam Hussein is executed for crimes against humanity.

2007

January U.S. President George W. Bush announces a new Iraq strategy; thousands more U.S. troops will be dispatched to shore up security in Baghdad. July Human Rights Watch gives details of torture and abuse in prisons run by the Kurds in northern Iraq.

December Great Britain hands over security of Basra province to Iraqi forces, marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq. December Turkey launches air strikes on fighters from the Kurdish PKK movement inside Iraq.

2008

August At least 300 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks on members of the Kurdish Yazidi sect in northern Iraq.

September U.S. forces hand over control of the western province of Anbar. It is the first Sunni province to be returned to the Shia-led government.

August Kurdish and Shia leaders form an alliance to support Prime Minister Maliki’s government, but fail to bring in Sunni leaders.

November Parliament approves a security pact with the United States, under which all U.S. troops are due to leave the country by the end of 2011.

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Countries in the Middle East with greatest percentage of new displacement due to conflict/violence 2017 & 2018

Syria

Syria Lebanon

2017

2,913,000

Iraq

Israel

Iraq

Palestine 2018

1,676,000

Jordan Kuwait

2017

1,383,000

2018

219,000

Saudi Arabia Egypt

Bahrain Qatar U.A.E.

Yemen

Oman

Yemen 2017

160,000

2018

270,000

IDPs Refugees

2013

2009

June U.S. troops withdraw from towns and cities in Iraq six years after the invasion. June The Kurdish government begins to export crude oil to foreign markets.The central government allows its pipeline to be used in return for a share of revenues. July Massoud Barzani is re-elected as president of the Kurdish autonomous region.

2010

August Seven years after the U.S. - led invasion, the last U.S. combat brigade leaves Iraq.

2011

January Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr returns after four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. August and October Turkey launches air and ground assaults on PKK militants in Iraqi Kurdistan. December U.S. completes troop withdrawal. December Sunni bloc boycotts parliament and cabinet.

2012

April/May Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan are halted amid a row with central government over contracts with foreign firms.

April Sunni insurgency intensifies, with levels of violence matching those of 2008. By July, the country is described as being yet again in a state of full-blown sectarian war. April At least 31 people are killed and more than 200 others wounded in explosions in cities across the country, including Kurdistan. May Flood of refugees from Syria prompts authorities to temporarily shut the border. September Series of bombings hits Kurdistan capital Erbil in the first such attack since 2007. October By the end of the year, the UN estimates the 2013 death toll of civilians as 7,157 – a dramatic increase of the previous year’s figure of 3,238.

2014–2018 ISIS invasion of Iraq

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IDPs and refugees in Kurdistan Refugees: 273,543 IDPs: 1,246,423

Duhok 50,357

Total IDPs and Refugees registrated: 1,519,966

166,406

Camps: 38 Humanitarian Organizations: 160 Erbil

IDPs Refugees

32,767

Ninewa 30,924

Slemani Camps Host Communities

9,113

Kirkuk

14,606 100 90

79%

80 70

63%

60

Salah Al-Din

Diyala

50

37%

40 30

21%

20 10

IDPs

2014

2015

January ISIS fighters infiltrate Falluja and Ramadi. March The Iraqi government blocks the transfer of revenues to the Kurdish authorities. May Kurdistan officially markets its first pipeline oil, despite opposition from the government in Baghdad. June–September Sunni rebels led by ISIS surge out of Anbar Province to seize Iraq’s second city of Mosul and other key towns. Tens of thousands flee amid atrocities. August ISIS conquers several Kurdishheld towns.

Refugees

March ISIS destroys Assyrian archaeological sites of Nimrud and Hatra.

August Islamic State defeat Peshmerga (Kurdish armed forces) defending town of Sinjar, prompting an exodus of people of the Yazidi religious sect. September Kurdish leadership agrees to put independence referendum on hold. December The Iraqi government and the leadership of the Kurdish Region sign a deal on sharing Iraq’s oil wealth and military resources against ISIS.

July Turkey joins the U.S.-led military alliance against ISIS but insists that air strikes against them should go hand-in-hand with operations against Kurdish PKK militants in northern Iraq. August President Barzani is given another two years in a move described by the opposition as illegal. November Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and Turkish forces, backed by U.S.led coalition forces, recapture Sinjar from ISIS.

2016–2017 Battle of Mosul

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Total and total new displacement 2018 70.8m Total of people living in displacement as result of conflict/ violence and disaster in 55 countries and territories as of December 31, 2018

4.9m Armed conflict

28m total new displacements 2018

10.8m caused by conflict/violence

4.2m Violence (communal)

995,00 Violence (political)

438,000 Other

225,00 Violence (criminal)

17.2m caused by disaster

2016

June Regional government threatens to cut water supplies from the Tigris River to the rest of Iraq after Baghdad buys smaller-thanexpected quantities of wheat products from Kurdistan.

2017

August Germany resumes direct shipment of weapons to Iraqi Kurdistan. October A major military campaign launched by the Iraqi government together with allied militias, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and international forces to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS.The battle was the world’s single largest military operation in nearly 15 years. October ISIS carries out a commando attack in Kirkuk’s inner districts. Peshmerga and volunteers reclaim full control of the city after several days of street-tostreet fighting.

November Parliament recognizes the Shia Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militia as part of the armed forces with full legal status. November Peshmerga capture the Christian town of Baashiqa from ISIS as part of operations to recapture Mosul. November Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses Peshmerga forces of systematically destroying Arab homes and villages in areas retaken from ISIS.

July Iraqi Prime Minister arrives in Mosul to announce the victory over ISIS. It is estimated that repairing the city over the next five years will require USD 50 billion, while Mosul’s Old City alone will cost about USD 1 billion. September Kurds back independence in a referendum staged by the Kurdish regional government. Baghdad imposes punitive measures. October President Barzani resigns. November Government forces with Shia and Kurdish allies drive ISIS out of all but a few redoubts.

2018

May Parliamentary elections. The political bloc of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr wins the most votes. October Parliament elects veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih as president. He appoints Shia former minister Adel Abdul Mahdi as prime minister.

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Ten countries with the highest numbers of refugees per 1,000 inhabitants by end of 2018

156

Lebanon* 72

Jordan 45

Turkey 29

Chad Uganda

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Sudan

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Sweden

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South Sudan Malta Djibouti

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Nearly 4 out of every 5 refugees lived in countries neighboring their country of origin.

References: bbc.com/news/world-middle-east14546763; infoplease.com/history/ world/iraq-timeline; archive.nytimes. com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/ 2010/08/31/world/middleeast/ 20100831-Iraq-Timeline.html#/ #time111_3262; securitycouncilreport. org/chronology/iraq.php; worldatlas. com/webimage/countrys/asia/iraq/ iqtimeln.htm; cfr.org/timeline/iraq-war; With support from the journalist Baxtiyar Goran

Lebanon* continued to host the largest number of refugees relative to its national population, where 1 in 6 people was a refugee. Jordan (1 in 14) and Turkey (1 in 22) ranked second and third, respectively. * These figures refer only to refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. In addition, Lebanon hosted 475,100 refugees under the mandate of UNRWA.

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The f irst loss which the rightless suffered was the loss of their homes… This ca­lam­ity is far from unprecedented ; in the long memory of history, forced migrations of in­di­viduals or whole groups of people for political or economic reasons look like everyday occurrences. W hat is unprec­e ­den­ted is not the loss of a home but the impossibility of finding a new one … It was a problem not of space but of political organization.

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Hannah Arendt

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Erbil City Erbil is the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. With a population of approximately 1.3 million, it is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul. Urban life in Erbil dates back to at least 6000 BC, as Erbil is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The name Erbil was mentioned as Urbilum in Sumerian holy writings from the third millennium BC. Later, the Akkadians and Assyrians rendered the name as arba’ū ilū meaning “four gods” according to folk etymology. The city has been under the rule of many different regional powers, including the Assyrians, the Arabs, the Seljuk and the Ottoman Turks.

The Citadel At the heart of Erbil is the ancient Citadel of Erbil, which is estimated to be close to 7000 years old. It rises to between 25 and 32 meters from the surrounding plain. The buildings on top of the tell1 stretch over a roughly oval area of 430×340 meters. When it was fully occupied, the citadel was divided into three districts or mahallas, from east to west: the Serai, the Takya and the Topkhana. The Serai was occupied by notable families, the Takya district was named after the homes of dervishes, and the Topkhana district housed craftsmen and farmers. A 1920 inventory shows that at that time, the citadel was divided into 506 house plots. In the early 20th century, there were three mosques, two schools, two takyas  (meeting places for Sufis, devout Muslims, and dervishes, where religious recitals and dervish dances were held in a special hall), and a hammam on the citadel. The citadel also housed a synagogue until 1957. The only remaining religious structure is the Mulla Afadi Mosque, which was rebuilt on the location of an earlier 19thcentury mosque. During the 20th century, the urban structure of the citadel was significantly modified, as a result of which a number of houses and public buildings were destroyed. In 2007, the High Commission for the Erbil Citadel Revitalization (HCECR) was established to oversee the restoration of the citadel. Over the course of this large restoration project, almost all of the citadel’s inhabitants were evicted. In 2014, the Erbil Citadel was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

1 In archaeology, a tell (derived from Arabic) is an artificial mound formed from the accumulated remains of mud bricks and other refuse of generations of people living on the same site for hundreds or thousands of years. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with sloping sides and can be up to 30 meters high.

This page Top: Urban growth of Erbil City Bottom: Erbil City Right page Top: Flat roofs of a Kurdish village Bottom: Nomadic tent during winter and summer, nomadic dwelling plan

Ethnic Groups Erbil is the center of Kurdish culture in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as of Kurdish politics. The Kurdistan Regional Government is based in the city and the affairs of the region are governed from there. Kurds form the largest ethnic group in the city, accounting for over 90 % of its population. Smaller numbers of Arabs, Assyrians, Turcomans, Armenians, Yazidis, Shabaks, Circassians, Kawliya, Iranians and Mandeans also live in Erbil. The parliament of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region was established in Erbil in 1970, although it was effectively controlled by Saddam Hussein until the Kurdish uprising at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Urban Growth The urban expansion of Erbil is evident when observing the evolution of peripheral ring roads that surround the city center and define (new) districts. Each of the ring roads serves trade and mobility purposes, while symbolizing the ongoing growth of Erbil. Although the city boundary is expanding outwards, people are moving inwards due to the established commercial center around the citadel. At the peripheries of the city, residential and public areas dominate. Erbil’s most recent urban boom started in 2003, during the U.S. invasion. Since then, the city has expanded beyond the first urban ring. Erbil has been one of the safest cities in Iraq since the beginning of the XXI century, which is one of the reasons for its continued growth. This expansion has also been promoted by the growing oil industry, with over 50 oil companies working in the area. However, the ISIS conflicts have led to a stagnation of growth from which Erbil is now trying to recover.

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Kurdish Vernacular Architecture according to Paul Oliver Kurdish vernacular architecture can be classified according to two factors: the socioeconomic system and the geographical region. There are mainly two kinds of Kurdish vernacular architecture: nomadic and sedentary, which in turn can be rural or urban. Nomadic Dwellings Historically, a large population of Kurds lived as nomadic herdsmen. Today, there is a small minority that still follows the same traditional nomadic lifestyle. There are several groups of Kurdish nomads, each of which use a different type of tent and spatial organization within their tent. The majority use a tent woven from goat hair, which is carried by donkeys when the group moves from one place to another. To raise the tent, three rows of holes are dug, into which wooden poles are placed, spaced two meters apart. The tent’s width is about four meters and its length can vary according to the size of the family. The tent has a hole with a hatch located over the fireplace that is used for ventilation. Animals are kept in a separate tent or at the entrance of the main tent. Sedentary Dwellings The dwellings of rural villages have a different physical, social, and economic character than those of the nomads and urban dwellings. The form of the dwelling and the building material vary according to the conditions of the site. The dwellings form a compact unit, have a simple form, and are built as terraces on two levels. The rooms are small and have multifunctional eating, sleeping, and sitting spaces. The room has a small fireplace in the middle, the floor is covered with carpets, and the walls have niches that are used for storage and decoration. The windows are small, formerly without any panes. There is a room used for animals located on the ground floor. The family uses the roof for sleeping, and for storing and drying clothes or food during the summer. There is a summer area on the roof constructed of branches, which is used for sitting and sleeping during the day. Most of the villages located on rivers use the river during the summer as a public bath. The wall construction is about 60cm thick, built of stone in a mud mortar, and covered with mud plaster outside and gypsum plaster inside. The flat roof is supported by timber beams covered with matting, branches, and 50cm of mud and straw for insulation. The building process is carried out by the family.

Urban Dwellings The urban dwellings are often two stories high and built as a cluster arranged around a narrow pathway. Most dwellings have only one entrance. The entrance leads to a small lobby and then to a courtyard. The courtyard floor is covered with 40cm square mud bricks. The courtyard is often surrounded by an open corridor on both the first and second stories. All rooms are organized around the courtyard. The main room, close to the entrance, is the living room, which is also used for eating and sleeping. The room, which is often small due to the scarcity of available timber, is covered with carpets. All rooms have wooden windows facing the courtyard that provide light, ventilation, and visual contact. Rooms beside the pathway have small windows to shield the inner room from the view of passers-by. A small kitchen, storage space, bathroom, and latrine are located on the ground floor. In the past, most houses had no bathroom but did have a washing place in the corner of the rooms. Otherwise, families would use the city’s public baths. The wall is made of mud bricks in a mud mortar. On the first story, the wall thickness is 80cm, on the upper floor it is 60cm with a 30-cm-thick parapet. The wall is finished with mud plaster and straw outside and gypsum plaster inside. The first story roof is flat and supported by horizontal wooden beams, and supporting layers of wood, matting, and mud bricks covered with gypsum.

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Hammam The public bath, or hammam, has historically been a vital social institution in Middle Eastern cities. Hammam literally means “spreader of warmth”. It has played a central role in promoting hygiene and public health, and it represents a strong connection between cleanliness and spirituality. Furthermore, the hammam has served as a meeting place where people can relax and socialize. Hammams are generally single-sex, with men and women having separate bathhouses or separate bathing times. Traditionally, the hammam consists of a series of rooms heated at different temperatures, featuring sunken tubs and marble platforms surrounded by glazed tiles. The rooms have no windows, which allow them to trap heat and moisture. Decay of Iraqi Public Bath Houses Beginning in medieval times, hammamat, or bathhouses, flourished in the Arab world while in most of Europe, the usage of soap and plumbing was not common. Today, the hammamat are falling victim to modernization. In cities like Baghdad, Mosul, Cairo, and Damascus – which have featured the most prominent and oldest public baths – many have been demolished to make way for new constructions, while lack of business has forced others to close. Iraq’s baths have been facing an even more complicated situation that has emerged from harsh international economic sanctions and ongoing periods of conflict.

Bathing hall, ceiling and roofscape Photos: Baerbel Mueller

Erbil’s Historic Hammam at the Citadel The hammam located at the Erbil Citadel was built in 1775 by Qassim Agha Abdullah. It was designed according to traditional Islamic principles for public baths: First, one would enter the outer hall (Barrani), which is surmounted by a large dome. Then, one would proceed to the middle hall (Wastani), which, when in use, was slightly warmer in temperature, and from there to the inner hall (Jawani), which was very hot and steamy. This inner hall, with six alcoves for private bathing, is surmounted by a large dome with many small, round glass openings (oculi) that provide filtered natural light. Water for the hammam was obtained from an ancient well more than 60 meters deep. The well still exists today. The hammam was renovated and restored in 1979, but was later neglected due to economic difficulties. Restoration of the historic site began in 2010, when the Kurdistan Regional Government allocated a sufficient budget for the project. The process was halted during the financial crisis that struck the Kurdistan Region in 2014. The High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization (HCECR), in partnership with UNESCO and other agencies, is working to conserve and rehabilitate the Citadel within the framework of detailed studies and plans that have been the basis for the Conservation and Rehabilitation Master Plan for Erbil Citadel.

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Aleppo Soap One of the first hard soaps in the world was created in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Even though historians have not been able to track down its exact origins, Aleppo is estimated to have originated 8,000 years ago. The Mesopotamian city has thrived on trade for thousands of years and was known as the endpoint of the famous Silk Road that bridged the East and West. One of the city’s most important trade items has been its soap. The soap’s unique formula and handmade manufacturing process has been kept alive till the present day. This soap, known as  ghar in Arabic, is a prestigious commodity of Syrian culture that has also been adopted by many neighboring countries’ cultures, including that of Iraq. Manufacturing Method To produce the soap, as a first step, olive oil is mixed with water and lye, and then put into an in-ground vat. The vat is heated by a fire below so that the mixture can simmer over three days to become a thick liquid soap. Laurel oil is added to the soap mixture, which is then immediately placed onto waxed paper on the floor and left to sit for one day in order to cool and harden. The hard soap is then cut and stacked vertically, in order for it to get maximum air exposure. The soap will age in this position for at least six months. Aleppo soap has traditionally been manufactured in buildings which have at least one floor below ground. The production of the soap starts underground, where large stone wells are used as storage for the annual supply of olive oil, which is then ladled out of these wells through small openings in the floors. There is also a small room located under the soap-cooking area that functions as a stoking room where fuel is burnt under the soapcooking vat, which is built in between the ground and the underground levels. The ground floor is dark, easily accessible from the street, and is the main occupied space in the soap factory, where several operations take place: soap preparation and cooking, fuel storage, and the owner’s administrative duties. The major operations of soap preparation and cooking take place in adjacent spaces.

Aleppo soap at the bazaar in Erbil Photo: Baerbel Mueller

Since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, with Aleppo being one of the most affected cities, the production of this traditional soap has been under threat. Most of the soap manufacturers have had to close down their productions. Furthermore, the laurel oil used for the soap’s production is now imported from Turkey, and the prices for all the basic ingredients and production costs have dramatically increased. However, Aleppo soap continues to be popular in the local, regional, and international market and is still being produced. Since the components necessary to produce the famous Aleppo soap are cultivated and available in Northern Iraq, its production has been recognized as a potentially plausible and profitable proposal for livelihood-generating programs for Syrian refugees and IDPs staying in and around Erbil. The presence, knowledge, and expertise of Syrian soap manufacturers in the region would thereby represent a continuation of a millennial tradition, as well as a sustainable source of income for Syrian refugees and IDP families in Northern Iraq.

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Gardens, Trees, Flowers, Herbs and Greenhouses The most ancient gardens in the world first emerged in the fertile region of the Middle East, influencing the forms, techniques and types of plants that were later used in Greek, Roman and Islamic gardens. Islamic gardens come in many different types, styles, shapes and sizes, with most containing plants, flowers and fruit trees that provide shade, color and scent. Other characteristic features are the presence of water, geometrical patterns, architectural elements and hard surfaces, arranged symmetrically. The chahar bagh is the most common form: a garden divided into four parts, separated by water channels or pathways, which reflect the four gardens and rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Qur’an. The idea of paradise comes from the Persian word pairi-daeza, which stands for a wall that surrounds the green, whereby the isolation of the interior allows for more appreciation of inner values. While many Islamic gardens share these features, they vary depending on local climatic conditions, architectural styles, and cultures. Olive Trees and Olive Oil Production in Iraq There has long been an established olive industry in Northern Iraq. Since 2000, the Ministry of Agriculture has recognized the potential for olive oil production in Iraq, and has therefore supported programs for establishing new olive groves in the country. Olives are a potentially important cash crop for Iraqi farmers, as olive trees are often the only crop option for areas with low rainfall. They promote rural development in geographic areas that would otherwise be idle or abandoned. In order to develop a sustainable olive oil industry, Iraq will have to expand the production of olives in the country and reduce production and packaging costs so that it can compete with imported products. Herbs Kurdistan has a great diversity of plants, including medicinal plants. The most important species for traditional healers are ginger, chamomile, maidenhair fern, thyme, and anise, as well as rose, rosemary, sage, fenugreek, sweet violet, basil, and mint. Although pharmaceuticals are available in local areas, herbal medicine has remained popular in Kurdistan.

Private garden at Baharka Camp, flower greenhouse, Ronaki, Erbil Photos: Baerbel Mueller

Flowers in Erbil UNDP evaluated the potential of three niche markets in Northern Iraq – fresh cut flower production, fruit processing, and fresh herb farming – in order to map their value chains, identify activities that can be established locally for the benefit of IDPs, refugees, and host communities, and, finally, recommend further tailored livelihood interventions. Regarding the market for fresh cut flowers, demand in the region has increased, whereby roses are the main high-value flower sold in florist shops.The recent expansion of greenhouse construction in the KRI could help to facilitate the development of local flower production through low-risk, small-scale projects in localities near IDP and refugee camps. Greenhouses and Camps “I really wanted to do something with gardening and greenhouses inside the camp because it would be good for the camp. The people can grow vegetables and fruits and either sell them or eat them themselves. I wanted to build greenhouses in the camp, but I couldn’t get support for implementing any of the projects.” — Vian Rasheed, Erbil Governorate

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Reference Projects Reference projects that engage in urban and social questions related to participation, inclusion, and fostering democracy and empowerment have been analyzed. Cinema Jenin The non-profit organization Cinema Jenin E.V., consisting of filmmakers, cultural advocates, and investors, addresses the limited amount of cultural and leisure activities in the city of Jenin, a war-torn area of Palestine. The organization reconstructed an old cinema from the early 1960s surrounded by a large garden that had become a dumping site. The project’s aim was to break apart the isolation and lack of perspective in Jenin by creating sustainable change and improving living conditions. Cinema Jenin fosters an environment of peace and intercultural dialogue by opening a window to the outside world during times of occupation and siege. It has also become a symbol of successful cooperation towards a non- violent and independent future. Maria Grazia Primary School The Maria Grazia Primary School aims to support social and educational programs for women and children in Herat, Afghanistan by targeting the staggering rates of illiteracy in the country. 57 per cent of men and 87 per cent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate. Inspired by the Italian journalist, Maria Grazia, who was killed in an attack in 2001, and supported by the Maria Grazia Cutuli Foundation, the school has been developed by 2A+P, IaN+, and MA0/Emmeazero with Mario Cutuli. The school was designed to provide an environment conducive to innovative teaching as opposed to typical emergency reconstruction models built according to immediate needs without sustainable functional considerations. Between eight enclosed classrooms, there are small, intimate outdoor spaces where children can play and relax in the shade of about 50 fruit trees. The main courtyard within the center of the building ensemble provides a central outdoor gathering space.

Sources: P. 26, Erbil City: whc.unesco.org/en/ list/1437/; britannica.com/place/ Arbil, su.edu.krd/about/history/erbil; A Study on the Urban Form of Erbil City (the capital of Kurdistan region) as an example of historical and fast growing city, Chwas A. Sabr; Kashro et al., “The Significant of Urban Form of Erbil City, Iraq” in International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences, February 2016, Volume 4, Issue 2; en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Citadel_of_Erbil; erbilcitadel.org/ ErbilCitadel/index.php

P. 27, Kurdish vernacular architecture according to Paul Oliver: Paul Oliver; Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World; Chapter 2.IV.8: Mesopotamia and Plateau; Cambridge University Press (1998) P. 28, Hammam: erbilcitadel.org/ ArchitecturalHeritage/TheHammam. php; kurdistan24.net/en/culture/ d326c08e-ef07-42b8-a3f9b16531431ab9; whc.unesco.org/en/ list/1437/

LE56/Eco-Interstice LE56/Eco-Interstice is an urban garden project by Atelier d’architecture autogérée (AAA) in Paris, France. Urban tactics employed by AAA encourage the participation of inhabitants in self-management of disused urban spaces, overpowering prejudices and stereotypes by proposing nomadic and reversible projects, and initiating interstitial practices that explore the potential of the city in terms of population, mobility, and temporality. LE56/Eco-Interstice aims to make the city more ecologically sustainable and democratic by making urban spaces less dependent on top-down processes and increasing accessibility to daily users. This urban garden project explores the potentials for an urban interstice to be transformed into a collectively self-managed space. It is an open building site that has hosted different events that allow participants to meet each other and make decisions. Skateistan Skateistan is the world’s first skateboarding school in Kabul, Afghanistan, which empowers the city’s youth within a safe and supportive environment. The project by Skateistan/ACCL, ANOC, and Oliver Percovich allows children to interact non-violently, gain self-confidence, and learn skills. Girls are generally excluded from community sports in Afghanistan, so Skateistan works to overcome this. Operating as an independent and neutral Afghan NGO, the school has been engaging with growing numbers of urban and internally displaced youths in Afghanistan through skateboarding. Students decide for themselves what they want to learn, thus developing abilities to express their opinions on issues that concern them, enabling them to make their own decisions about their futures. It also includes a specialized curriculum for disabled youths that uses skateboarding to provide mobility and sports therapy, and a back-to-school program that helps children to enroll in public schools. Skateistan aims to use global media attention in order to tell a positive story about Afghanistan’s youth and to send a message of hope, unity, and peace.

P. 29, Aleppo Soap: en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Aleppo_soap; atlasobscura.com/ articles/in-syria-war-and-modernityare-no-match-for-the-worlds-oldestsoap P. 30, Gardens, Trees, Flowers, Herbs and Greenhouses: agakhancentre.org. uk/islamic-gardens/; Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, D. Fairchild Ruggles; UNDP_Iraq_Report_Sept+9_2017

P. 31, Reference projects: Testify! The Consequences of Architecture, Lukas Feireiss, Ole Bouman; photo Cinema Jenin: Pierre Johne, photo Maria Grazia Primary School: stringio

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Al-Amal Hope Center Distance from Erbil City: 9 km Area: ~ 1,700 m² Design capacity: 4 ×16 caravans Center opened: 2014 Type: ‘Vertical camp’ Population: ~ 600 individuals Profile June 2016

Before we came, ten Yazidi families were living here without any shelter or electricity. They were living in the raw abandoned structure. The temporality of the structure is dependent on the owner, but due to the severe economical conditions, he has stopped all construction. People migrate here because they don’t believe that they have a life in this country anymore. They want to start from zero in another country because they want to live somewhere that respects their privacy and religion. They fear for their safety. They say: “Maybe this time I have escaped, next time we probably won’t be able to escape. You saw what happened to the Yazidis. We don’t want that to happen to us, that’s why we need to migrate.” They also cannot trust any Iraqi military forces because when ISIS came to the Mosul, the Iraqi army ran away and did not defend the city. They also cannot trust their neighbors in their hometowns because it was their neighbors who took their houses and killed their families and kicked them out of their city. I am saying this because I am also an IDP from Qaraqosh. I was a contractor there and my own workers, who worked for me for over six years, took my house. One of them said to me: “Sir, can I stay in your house?” I said yes, because I did not have any other choice. My own workers robbed me of my home. — Manager of Al-Amal Hope Center

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If I got further funding and support, I would rent houses to these people because they are sick and tired of this situation. It is not good to invest in this situation (camp), better to invest in people leaving this situation. — Manager of Al-Amal Hope Center

All the families live in one room, so there is no privacy between family members. Husband and wife have no privacy whatsoever. The kids are all part of a big community, so the parents cannot parent them on their own. — Male IDP at Al-Amal Hope Center

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Al-Amal Hope Center Distance from Erbil City: 9 km Area: ~ 1,700 m² Design capacity: 4 ×16 caravans Center opened: 2014 Type: ‘Vertical camp’ Population: ~ 600 individuals Profile June 2016 Photo: Baerbel Mueller

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Today it is not the city but rather the camp that is the fundamental biopolitical paradigm of the West.

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Giorgio Agamben

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Baharka Camp Distance from Erbil City: 16 km Camp area: 360,000 m² Design capacity: 1338 tents Camp opened: 10/06/2014 Type: IDP camp Registered population: 3,953 individuals Profile September 2015

100m

I came here four years ago with my family. I live in the Darashakran camp and I go back and forth there everyday because I work here. I am a water engineer. It is better for me to live here in Erbil because as a Kurdish Syrian, it is very difficult for me to live in Syria as they refuse to recognize my ethnicity. I work here for a minimum wage because there are no jobs in the city due to the economic situation. I take an expensive cab back and forth from the Darashakran camp to here. Four years ago, I had a lot of very nice brown hair and I was young. I am still young, but my years have been stolen from me. My brown hair has turned an ash color, even though I am in the prime of my youth. — Male Syrian refugee working at Baharka Camp

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The challenge at the beginning was how to bring together people of different ethnicities. The temporality of the camp is 90% dependent on the liberation of Mosul. If Mosul were ever liberated, they (the IDPs) would want to go back. Refugees, however, would stay permanently. If you were to ask me what is missing in Baharka, I would answer that psychological aid is urgently needed. — Camp manager at Baharka Camp

We tried to place refugees in jobs in the camp, because they don’t have anything. We set up a job center there. However, their response to our job offer was quite surprising, and we asked ourselves why they weren’t applying for jobs. After all, $600–700 is quite a good salary! They don’t want it because they can rely on aid dependency. They even expect to get money after they are put in training, so I told UNDP that the cash-forwork approach is not really effective. If they have to clean up their camps, they get paid. That’s a typical cash-for-work-project. We have to move forward from traditional models of assistance. “I don’t want to work because it’s too much for me to get up at 7am, go to work and then get back at 7pm.” There are cash-for-work-projects in the UN cluster, like people getting paid to clean their own toilet. There needs to be a tangible outcome resulting from the work in order for it to be a successful project. — Country director of IMPACT Iraq

The food sector is always growing because people will never stop eating, so it is the only area that hasn’t been fully affected by the fall of the economy. — Female engineer expert for the Erbil Governorate

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Ankawa 2 Camp Distance from Erbil City: 8 km Camp area: 186,122 m² Design capacity: 1,200 caravans Camp opened: 10/04/16 Type of camp: IDP camp Registered population: 5,500 individuals Profile April 2016

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My name is Ibrahim. I migrated from Bartalla (sub-district of Mosul). I left on the 6th of August, 2014. We left at night. When I first came, I started working with the priest at the church to help the IDPs that were coming in. We would distribute tents and food to them. We all stayed at this church for three months. The priest and his people cooked and accommodated over 3,000 people, who mostly consisted of Christian people coming from Mosul. However, we also had about 400 people that were Kakayee (another religion that exists in the northern region). Those 3,000 people were then transferred to abandoned schools and buildings due to bad weather conditions during the winter. In April 2015, this camp was completed. The people that were staying in the abandoned schools and structures came to live here. This camp is called Ankawa. 1,200 families live here, almost 5,500 people. All of them are Christians because the camp turns away people from other religious groups. The camp is run with the aid of French NGOs that are not affiliated with the government. — Male IDP from Ankawa 2 Camp

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Who would I go back to? My neighbors who betrayed me? My boss who kicked me out? Or the government that didn’t defend my family and let them die? I will definitely not go back. — Female IDP living in Ankawa 2 Camp

There is not much work in the city because the country is facing a crisis. Nevertheless, many people from the camp have opened little shops, small boutiques in the camp. Usually, the whole family works there. Many women have beauty salons. Others sell vegetables and other things outside by the entrance of the camp. They can use the land for the shops for free. There are many former employees in the camp who still get their monthly payments. That’s how they can afford to buy electricity and other goods in the camp. — Female IDP at Ankawa 2 Camp

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Harsham Camp Distance from Erbil City: 11 km Camp area: 97,458 m² Design capacity: 299 caravans Camp opened: 16/11/2014 Type of camp: IDP camp Registered population: 1,526 individuals Profile December 2016

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We have really forgotten the people, their feelings, experience, and how they themselves can tell us so much about what they need, rather than us dictating to them what they needed. — Program coordinator, UNIDO

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If the situation gets better, yes, I would like to go back, but at the moment I cannot go, because there is no security, no power, no water. But if the situation gets better, like how it is in Erbil, yes, I will go back. — Male IDP Harsham Camp

I ran away with nothing but my wife and little kids, wanting to return someday with my wife and kids. I hope that moment will come one day. What will greet me is only rubble. My beloved home has turned to sand. What should we then look forward to now, if that life has nothing left for us? — Male IDP Harsham Camp

Let my husband go back, I will stay here. — Female IDP Harsham Camp

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Camps are established with the intention of being demolished. They are meant to have no histor y and no future, they are meant to be forgotten. The history of refugee camps is constantly being erased, dismissed by states, humanit arian or­­gan­izations, international agencies, and even by refugee communities them­ selves in fear that any acknowledgment of the present undermines the right of return.

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DAAR

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Whereas one might imagine a discipline or field called sustainable urbanism, or in­­fra­ structural urbanism, there will never be a subdiscipline of ‘ post - t raumatic urbanism’ because trauma is that which exceeds systematization. Trauma is by def inition an exception, a collection of singularities.

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Adrian Lahoud

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The Hassan Sham Camp opened in 2016 in order to receive people from Mosul and the Nineveh Governorate fleeing from the heavy conflict that was taking place during the Mosul Offensive (2016) against Islamic State. The camp, which lies between Mosul and Erbil, has the capacity to host 11,000 people, but adequate funding has been difficult to raise. Since the liberation of Mosul in 2017, many camp inhabitants have tried to go back to their hometowns, but then ended up returning to the Hassan Sham Camp as the infrastructure and security in their respective places of origin have been devastated. Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Alejandra Loreto

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Baerbel Mueller

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Baerbel Mueller

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The precarious relationship of the tent to land is the outcome of centuries of im­­­ple­ menting a racialized world order that began with Europe’s colonial expe­ditions for territory and resources.

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Mabel O. Wilson

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Baerbel Mueller

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Jonathan Paljor

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Notions of belonging are increasingly complex by the structural ambivalences within conventional demarcations – citizen/foreigner, fixed/transitory, access/ foreclosure, shelter/exposure, us/ them – at work within contemporary geopolitical and informatic landscapes. In place of such bina­ries, new topologies are increasingly visible and many speak of structures and processes of ‘differential inclusion’, ‘inclusive exclusion’ and ‘exclusive inclusion’.

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Felicity D. Scott

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Jonathan Paljor

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Hassan Sham Camp, Iraq Sept 10, 2018 Photo: Alejandra Loreto

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Faced with the unstoppable progression of what has been called a ‘global civil war’, the state of exception tends to appear as the dominant paradigm of government in contemporary politics. This transformation of a provisional and exceptional measure into a technique of government threatens to alter the structure of the traditional dis­ tinction between constitutional forms.

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Giorgio Agamben

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Flowers in the Desert Alejandra Loreto

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All our space was inside, an inside that had no outside, like a dream. And like in a dream, we lived in a time warp for a couple of months, where the past invaded the present and where the present had no future.

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Tony Chakar

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Trauma is the drama in which both history and the future are at stake, held in a suspended crisis; the cards have been thrown up in the air but they have not yet landed. Trauma stages the point at which the system must reimagine itself or perish.

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Adrian Lahoud

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W hereas nationalism tries to create co­l­­­­­­­lec­­­tive ident ities of belonging to an imagined community, a political community of exile is built around the common con­di­­ ­­tion of non- belonging. As a political identity, exile opposes the st atus quo, con­fronts a dogmatic belief in the nation st ate, and refuses to normalize the permanent st ate of except ion in which we live. Exile demands to be thought as a radical, new found­ation for civic space.

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DAAR

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[ … ] the language of rights and obliga­tions, so central to the modern myth of a people, must be questioned on the basis of the anomalous and discriminatory legal and cul­­ tural status assigned to migrant, dia­­s­po­­ric, and refugee populations.

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Homi Bhabha

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Harsham Camp The joint project between [applied] Foreign Affairs and UNIDO envisioned the conception and design of a recreational and educational facility within a camp setting in Erbil, contributing to the overall UN project brief of “integrated stabilization, economic recovery and reconstruction support for displaced persons and returnees”. Based on the insights gained from the research on displacement, a strong programmatic concept and the design of a project conceptualized for the Baharka Camp were developed. Due to the tense political, humanitarian and infrastructural situations that occurred within the context of the Mosul offensive, the project needed to be adapted and translocated to Erbil’s Harsham Camp. The outcome was the masterplan and realization of the Harsham Camp Agricultural Training Center, including its greenhouses. In addition, [a]FA commissioned Kieran Fraser Landscape Design to work on landscaping and a garden design, providing recreational space and bridging between the training facilities and the camp. [a]FA’s project architect Stefanie Theuretzbacher supervised the contracted construction together with UNIDO’s on-site team, the facility was officially inaugurated in September 2019. Already before the official inauguration, UNIDO had started conducting training programs at the Agricultural Training Center for inhabitants of the Harsham Camp.

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Agricultural Training Center Erbil, Iraq

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Frida Robles: How did the invitation to work in Erbil end up at the [applied] Foreign Affairs program? Baerbel Mueller: It was an informal invitation from UNIDO to collaborate in Iraq. It was a very open request and discussion, but as UNIDO is a regulated UN organization, it started early with strategic meetings together with the head of our university. During this process I was advised not to take students to Iraq. This was back in 2016, with Erbil being only 80 kilometers away from Mosul, and about 50 kilometers away from the battle line. Therefore, we came up with this other project setup, in which young professionals and experienced professionals would team up to work together. Frida Robles: Why did you decide to accept the project? Baerbel Mueller: I thought it would be relevant to contribute to the situation. There had been a general interest in the topic of migration for years, and the idea of contributing to the situation of refugees and IDPs, and the fact that the issue was – and still is – not a local but a global one, as well as a European one. At that time, others had already done amazing projects in Austria and in cities like Vienna, but I felt that as [a]FA, we could also contribute in the places of origin. Frida Robles: What were the first steps you took for this project? Baerbel Mueller: I formed a team of individuals who would be interested in doing basic research on Kurdish Iraq, not only in a geographical and cultural project context, but also by topically diving into a discourse on migration, refugees, and IDPs, and, as architects, investigating how that manifests itself spatially and territorially, and in the form of camps. The team carried out this academic research in Vienna before Stefanie and I went on the first field research trip to Erbil.

Frida Robles: The first time you two went to Iraq, what were your first impressions, especially from an architectural point of view? Baerbel Mueller: Erbil came across as a city that was on hold regarding building activities, as there was an economic crisis happening caused by the ISIS crisis, following an economic peak. Nevertheless, we found ourselves in this somehow prosperous city, with its impressive historic center, and then you would leave Erbil city and enter these camps, and then you’re in another world. These two worlds hardly meet or match, and that’s very similar to what we have in Vienna. You don’t know what’s going on in Traiskirchen if you’re based in the first district of Vienna. Another thing that I vividly remember is that Stefanie, who was coming from Lagos, and I, basically coming from Ghana, when entering these temporary but formalized  camp situations, our first impression was that the living conditions were so much better than in certain neighborhoods in Lagos or Accra – especially on an infrastructural level. It took me some time to understand that the huge difference was the trauma, which didn’t come across at first.

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Frida Robles: Which camps did you visit and what were the criteria for choosing the place where you would do the project? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: I was surprised to see that there were so many programs in the camps: educational training schools, beatboxing, some kind of martial arts for boys and dance classes for girls, and quite good sanitary facilities. The camp had electric power and running water. Only when you met with the people or visited some homes in the camps would you get a feeling of what the people had experienced. But even though the camps are quite saturated with programs, there still isn’t a single psychologist in the area working inside the camps. Frida Robles: What were the most important questions that you had in mind while making this first visit to the camps? Baerbel Mueller: Based on our academic research, there was a strong focus on the gender problematic, on the fact that women are the most vulnerable in camps. And, as I said before, it was a very open brief, we didn’t know if we would be working inside a camp or if we would be doing something adjacent to a camp, or in a neighborhood in Erbil where refugees and IDPs were living in a more anonymous way. Following our camp visits, especially considering that the temporalities of camps are an illusion, we thought that focusing on the temporal reality of the situation was not the right take. Based on our research, we expected that none of these camps would be disappearing for several years. There was an invitation by UNIDO or a push to look at something that was meant to be prototypical and could be replicated, and would also lead to a design proposal that could be endlessly repeated and implemented in several camps. But at that point, we actively decided against that. We were interested in bringing in something that was framed in a different language and concept.

Stefanie Theuretzbacher: Most of the camps that we had researched beforehand were the bigger ones, which were quite far away from Erbil, in areas that have many checkpoints that we couldn’t pass due to clearances we didn’t have. Thus we focused on those in close proximity of the city, and one camp interested us in particular, the Baharka Camp, which was a few kilometers north of Erbil, close to a town called Baharka. We felt that doing something there could have quite an impact on the town. Potentially, whatever we would do there could remain and become part of the town, even if the camp itself wasn’t there anymore. Frida Robles: You have been interested in the notion of the temporary and the role of architecture in this regard, can you tell us more about that? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: We learned that most camps have existed for 15 years or longer. Once a camp has been established and its inhabitants have nowhere to go, it is very unlikely that they will go back to their places of origin. That’s why we thought that a typical camp architecture like the container structure wasn’t really suitable for any communal structures in a camp, which actually functions as a city in and of itself. Baerbel Mueller: There was a rigid grid of either tents or caravans in almost all the camps we saw and we felt that if we were going to propose a communal facility, and a recreational space, it would need to come across differently, allowing the inhabitants of the camp to leave their daily (tent or caravan) situation and enter another space – another world – which would also allow oneself to open up and become another person.

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Frida Robles: Can you explain more on how the project would work? Baerbel Mueller: Already after four or five days in Erbil we came up with a clear concept and proposal. On a programmatic level, it was of interest to create a hybrid of a recreational and educational space. It was really logical to us how we would create one cycle and one organism in and of itself. There would be a small-scale plantation in the camp, so that certain herbs could be cultivated, harvested and then processed into all kinds of cosmetics. But mostly we were interested in the soap production. Part of the proposal was then creating a facility to produce the Aleppo soap. The soap would become a product that could be sold in the markets in Erbil, but also be of use in the hammam itself and in turn, the gray water from the hammam could be filtered and used to water the plants.

Frida Robles: What was the proposal that you made, taking both the academic research and the on-site research into account? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: Apart from visiting different camps, we visited the Citadel of Erbil, which has a number of impressive preserved buildings. One of them is the historical hammam, which had a big influence on us as it addresses the very ancient tradition of public bathing. “Hammam” means “spreader of warmth” in direct translation and the architecture of it demonstrates exactly what the word means to me. We learned that over the last few decades, the hammam  culture had almost disappeared in the city. Hammams  used to be very important as there was no running water in any household, people would go to the hammam at least once a week, also to gather and socialize. It was culturally important, and a part of marriage preparations and other rituals as well. We thought that the camp would provide an ideal situation for a building like a hammam. Baerbel Mueller: In a normal housing situation of a Muslim family, there would be rooms for the women in the household. In a tent or caravan environment, it is not possible to unveil or undress at any time, you’re seen and heard at all times. The idea of the hammam was to provide an introverted, internal space that is somehow semi-public, but, on another level, private – and a gendered space. We felt that this would be the ideal typology, program and opportunity for women to undress and to communicate without being seen or overheard.

Stefanie Theuretzbacher: There are many olive plantations in the area, however, we learned that the olive oil production hasn’t been taken to an industrial level in the region, and that most of it actually comes from Turkey. The idea was to combine our and UNIDO’s interest in the olive oil production with a garden and a greenhouse project in which soapmaking and other ways of processing herbs and flowers would be learnt and fabricated, thereby including UNIDO’s expertise and project policy of providing trainings and income – generating skills for the small-scale agrarian and industrial sectors. Frida Robles: Architectonically, what was the thinking behind it? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: Initially, the thought was to introduce a building with rammed earth as that was one of the traditional building techniques in the area. We thought about conducting trainings on how to build with rammed earth and to construct the building over the course of these trainings. Later on, the idea was rejected, as it would have been too difficult for UNIDO to execute due to organizational challenges. Baerbel Mueller: To me, it was a very powerful idea to build something very stable, present and massive with rammed earth, which is somehow a temporary material as it decays so naturally: you take earth from the ground, use it as a building material, and then it goes back into the earth in the process of dying or decay.

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Conflict

IDPs & Refugees

Camp

Trauma

Healing Space Training

Shop: Soap, Olive Oil, Flowers

Garden: Herbs & Flowers

Production & Recreation

Hammam

Olive Oil Production

Frida Robles: As I understand, there were organizational issues surrounding the realization of this project. You had to reformulate and even change locations. Can you tell me about this process? Baerbel Mueller: There were two problems. First of all, there was a misunderstanding regarding the meaning of a hammam from the European side of UNIDO, who felt that it fell under the category of luxury facilities and not of basic infrastructure. Another crucial topic then was that even if you came with alternative technologies in the hammam cycle, it would still require a considerable amount of water, and there was a scarcity of water in the camp settings. On top of that, the Mosul ISIS offensive occurred when we came up with the proposal, which resulted in a larger inflow of IDPs, so it was a very dense and intense situation, which was another argument for abandoning the hammam idea. Aside from that, we needed to relocate from being within the Baharka Camp to being adjacent to the Harsham Camp. The relocation was based on an onthe-ground analysis conducted during the second on-site visit made by Stefanie, in which it was identified that the ground situation, the soil, was not ideal for starting a new project.

Soap Making

Frida Robles: How was the project then reformulated for the Harsham Camp? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: What started as a three-tiered project – the hammam, the production center, and the flower greenhouse together with the herb garden – became the Agricultural Training Center. It was hard to switch from flowers to vegetables, as we had initially liked the idea of the flowers since they are highly valuable in Erbil. You can pay up to $5 for a single flower in the market as most of the flowers there are imported. It’s a prestige object that is needed for various cultural ceremonies. Compare that to one kilo of cucumbers, which were sold for about 25 cents at the time. When you compare one flower with one kilo of cucumbers, the value just doesn’t add up. Frida Robles: So, you had to shift from the flower concept to vegetables, which were more suited to UNIDO’s program? And how did the garden then become part of the project?

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Baharka Camp Project Hammam & Training Center Floor plan Heating Room 9m²

Store WC 1.4m² 1.5m²

WC 2m² Open greenhouse 46m²

m Quiet Room 14.5m²

enhouse

Changing Room 14.5m²

Courtyard 7.8m²

d

Hallway 6.3m² Hammam 109.7m²

Entrance Space 19.7m²

Open greenhouse 46m² Courtyard 7.8m²

Communal Wash Room 30m²

10.8m²

Hammam

10m 109.7 m²

Wash Rooms

Open greenhouse 46 m² Courtyard 7.8 m²

1m

Production and Training Center 89.7 m²

Stor e 5.2m ²

WC and Store 15.2 m² Shaded Outdoor Space 76.6 m²

Stor e 5.2m ² emale WC F 5.0m²

Kitc he 40.8 n & Pro duc m² tion Sp

Total: 258.1 m²

5m

ace le

a WC M 2.5m²

Store 7.7m²

10m

Production Space 02 38.5m² Shaded Outdoor Space 76.6m²

Production and Training Center 89.7m² WC and Store 15.2m² Shaded Outdoor Space 76.6m² Total: 258.1m²

1m

5m

10m

10m

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Baerbel Mueller: Since the hammam was gone, I felt that we could still come up with a solution for women being able to meet. That was the moment when we thought of a garden, in the sense of the ideal of an Islamic garden, which is a retreat, close to paradise, with all kinds of fruit trees. It would compensate for the missing hammam, and that was the moment when I invited Kieran Fraser Landscape Design to become part of the team. I felt that we needed a professional landscape architect to come up with the garden design, which would allow for an open gathering, or shared space, where trainees could bring their children along or spend quality time together. Frida Robles: Stefanie, maybe you can tell me more about the design process for the Agricultural Training Center? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: The idea was to create a building ensemble that relates to the greenhouses and the garden, and a structure that creates two indoor spaces, one which could be used as an indoor production place and one as a training classroom and workshop space. It’s basically one big volume with a big roof that can create shaded outdoor areas for people to work and pause. The building has big openings to allow for natural ventilation and to create visibility, but it also creates an intimate space at the same time. I think we were quite successful in building a space that is very inviting. In a camp situation, there are not many places with views, you have these repetitive alleys with continuous tracks and many self-made entrenched situations, but once you reach the training center site, you have an elevated structure that provides you with a view over the surrounding fields. Frida Robles: Can you share a bit about the construction process, your involvement in it, and its actors?

Stefanie Theuretzbacher: Let’s just say that if we hadn’t been involved in the construction process, I’m not sure we would have recognized the structure – I think that’s often the case when the author is not also supervising the project. We were involved from the very beginning of the tendering and commissioning up to the construction from start to end, as well as up to the handover. It was personally a good learning process to understand how things were done and how for me now – after having done this project – it’s quite difficult to design a building all the way to the end without being on the ground or without really knowing all the materials, the exact steel angles, the exact ground environments, and many other factors. I was hoping that the planning and the construction process would be more interwoven, but they weren’t in our case, which led to some difficulties in the process. However, we have to remember that temperatures were between 45 to 50 degrees Celsius during a long stretch of the construction, also it was the time of Ramadan, which made it very difficult for the workers and myself to work under pressure to proceed quickly. Frida Robles: What is critical for me is the fact that the Agricultural Training Center is adjacent to the camp and that the entry situation from the camp is quite limited. I would like to know how it has been received. What were your thoughts behind that? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: The Harsham Camp is located on government land that belongs to the Agricultural Ministry of the Kurdish Region of Iraq, which is located next to the Ministry’s facility for research on different agricultural techniques. Since the camp is already very densely packed, we needed to place the project adjacent to it, on the southern boundary within these fields. Baerbel Mueller: This fence or border situation was a crucial topic from the beginning. It took us a while to understand how restrictive these fenced conditions are. We were very optimistic in the beginning that there would be an opening or a direct second gate introduced as soon as the training center opened. However, there wasn’t any land available close to the main entrance of the camp. To me, this barrier, which is the average, prototypical type of camp fence, was very painful to see, and it was frustrating that there was this strong and uninviting barrier. We tried our best to incorporate it into the planning and planting concept but of course, we wished that it could somehow become part of the camp itself.

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Baharka Camp Project Panorama view 2016 Photo: Stefanie Theuretzbacher

Regarding the ownership situation, what I really like and why I was interested in working with UNIDO is that they always work with governments. I’m very skeptical about the development sector in the NGO set-up. I like the idea of collaborating with the government as equal partners. Frida Robles: How do you see yourselves, coming from a European institution and being architects from another context, then engaging with this situation? How do you position yourself? What do you think is still important and what do you still question? Baerbel Mueller: Looking at myself, being there as a European and as an architect and proposing a project felt less loaded than working in certain other environments as an outsider. Since the situation was about a human condition that is tragic but universal I could easily have enough empathy towards it. I’ve never been in a war situation, but I don’t think it was so difficult to understand how unbearable it was, what people had gone through. Therefore, it’s not that difficult to contribute by bettering the living condition of people who have gone through situations and trauma like that. Talking about what we contribute as architects in this kind of environment is quite tricky. Through the course of the [applied] Foreign Affairs lab, I have seen our

projects as attempts and experiments in testing situations: How can you – through architecture or as architects – contribute to certain environments or certain situations in a critical manner? By reflecting on questions like: What did we do there? What did we leave out? What would we do differently a second time? For this particular project, there was an invitation from UNIDO, which usually works within very efficient, engineered structures with little identity, so it might be relevant to test what kind of surplus could be generated through involving architects who might have a bit more of a holistic approach towards looking at a situation than engineers would. Stefanie Theuretzbacher: Nothing about this IDP or camp situation is a local idea. There has been so much foreign investment and it has even reached the point where having all the expatriates working for NGOs in the area has resulted in the cost of living in the city becoming higher. There have been new housing estates built that only to cater to this market. I think you can only improve the situation through a project like this, in which so much research and thought has been invested.

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Frida Robles: Are you interested in thinking of strategies for breaking down the paternalistic perspectives regarding this socalled humanitarian work? Baerbel Mueller: I’m very critical of the whole idea of development aid, so I was really curious to learn how UN organizations operate in a setting like Erbil. The apparatus of humanitarian work is highly questionable on a systemic level. It’s obvious that there are economic interests and unequal power relations. There is the general question of whether you can do good within the bad, and while questioning the whole system, you have to decide whether you’re going to step back from it completely, or try to do it differently from within: this project falls under the latter category. It was also crucial for me to bring students to the Harsham Camp – which was only possible at a very late stage – to do a reverse reflection on what we have been doing here. How can we connect the camp back to the training center and vice versa? There had been many discussions on topics like: Is it okay that a person living in this camp is getting a food package, or shouldn’t this person have the right to decide for him/ herself whether to get the equivalent amount of money in cash instead? You can question migration on many levels, you can also question the policies that Europe is setting that don’t allow these people to migrate, even when they are fleeing from war and conflict. Actually, the situation is a disaster on every level.

Frida Robles: What have you learned most from this project both personally and as architects? Stefanie Theuretzbacher: We’ve learned a lot from it, but most of all, it helped me to understand one’s place in a different country as a woman, as a young person, and how to function in an existing societal hierarchy in which those two categories are the lowest on the totem pole. To still make oneself heard was an interesting experience. I think you can only grow from such a situation. Baerbel Mueller: Looking at it geopolitically, it was coming to Erbil and finding so much beauty, culturally. And being aware that this could be paradise on earth, but that it has been facing constant conflict and war – mostly caused by the West – for decades, that was one lesson. The other was on a very personal scale: in 2018, in a camp quite close to Mosul, sitting in a tent with a young father and his two kids, whose wife and mother had been killed in the war. The hospitality of these people and their positivity despite a situation in which they have only survived, this deeply touched me and has never left me.

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The ground of modernity is the colonized, flattened, bulldozed terrain where the fantasy of endless and selfsuff icient motility t akes place.

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André Lepecki

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From: Franz Sam Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 6:43 PM To: PAPASTAVROU, Stavros Cc: Stefanie Theuretzbacher; baerbel mueller Subject: AW: {a}FA UNIDO Erbil – Construction Drawings – meeting fs   dear stavros and baerbel – feel free to tell me your options for meetings and i’ll try to be at the uni ak – this week i’m also in vienna   best fsam

From: Franz Sam Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 7:16 PM To: nav-s; Stefanie Theuretzbacher Cc: PAPASTAVROU, Stavros Subject: AW: AW: {a}FA UNIDO Erbil – Construction Drawings – meeting fs   dear bm and st th – yes – i didn’t check that st is also in lagos – i think i’ll answer stavros questions so far concerning technical solutions   best fsam

From: Franz Sam Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 8:19 PM To: PAPASTAVROU, Stavros Cc: baerbel mueller; ‘Stefanie Theuretzbacher’; [email protected]; HISCOCKS, Jason Subject: Re: Hilti Bolts   hi stavros – the hilti performance in erbil looks convincing – i think we’ll take the expansion anchor best regards fsam

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Franz Sam has been running architectural practices in Vienna and Krems since 1992. He is chairman of the Lower Austria Architectural Advisory Board. He studied architecture at the University of Innsbruck in 1984 and was a project architect at Coop Himmelb(l)au from 1985 to 1992. He has been teaching building construction at the University of Applied Arts Vienna since 2002 and was assistant professor at Studio Wolf D. Prix. The main emphasis of his work with students lies in questioning form and material, as at the core of the development of space-forming constructions is the consideration of the chosen material and the applied technologies.

One of 87 sketches by Franz Sam

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[a]FA / Stefanie Theuret z­bacher

Harsham Camp Agricultural Training Center

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The Agricultural Training Center was conceptualized and realized to foster educational and communal activities at Erbil’s Harsham Camp. The building project includes a multipurpose space for trainings and food processing, a shaded outdoor terrace, storage spaces, and a sanitary block. Located only a few meters south of the Harsham Camp, the built structures flow together into the surrounding garden, forming spatial transitions that result in a pronounced topography. Embedded in an agricultural landscape that seasonally transforms from green to yellow, the color concept ranges from earthy colors for the exterior to rose and light gray hues for the interior. The orientation, views, and spatial qualities of the complex aim to create a safe and welcoming environment for its users. Generous room heights with continuous rows of windows below the ceilings allow for cross ventilation throughout the hot season, while wide, custom-made steel doors lead to a shaded outdoor area, creating connections between the interior and exterior. The modulated floor, shaped like a landscape, structures the multi-purpose main space into two areas through different floor levels. The higher area accommodates an industrial kitchen for processing farm produce (e.g. pickling and making jam), while the lower one hosts trainings and meetings. The floorscape continues out into the shaded exterior, forming seating elements for socializing and activities related to the training courses, such as washing and selecting garden products and greenhouse harvests. Grapevines trail along guiding steel cables, providing a natural roof between the buildings.

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Photo: UNIDO

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Photo: Alejandra Loreto

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Photo: Alejandra Loreto

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Harsham Camp Project Training Center Perspective drawings

PLANNUMBER:

072-I07

PROJECT PHASE:

CONSTRUCTI

DRAWN BY INSPECTED BY CONTENT:

01

DATUM DATE

STATUS

3D PERSP CEILING S

INDEX REVIZIJA

3D PERSPECTIVE CEILING SUBSTRUCTURE

INDEX:

KOM COM

170314

IMPORTANT NOTES

CHECK ALL MEASUREMEN IF MODIFICATIONS ARE NE

MEASUREMENTS IN M HEIGHT-MEASUREME

THIS DRAWING MUST NOT WORK TO FIGURED DIMEN

Project Nr

#150328 UNIDO RECO AFFECTED C

CLIENT:

AUTOR / ARCHITECT:

APPLIED FOR UNIVERSITY

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Photos: Alejandra Loreto

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Harsham Camp Project Training Center Floor plan

B

FDD

HDE

BDD

D

ECD

7

HDF

D

W

:($# & 8.9m ²

MED