Beyond bare life

Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh hosts around one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in 26 overcrowded camps, facing inadequate aid, environmental damage and 6,000+ unaccompanied children. This thesis proposes a plan for a village with a multi-purpose orphanage, aiming to provide education and safe housing. It seeks to foster integration by erasing camp boundaries, improve access to information and healthcare, emphasize disaster preparedness, and empower refugees in transforming the camp. Includes: educational facilities, dormitories, kitchens, gardens, playgrounds and skill development centres.

Inspired by Stan Allen's "Points and Lines" and the concept of flocking behaviour as a field phenomenon, this thesis tackles a crucial question: how can we create more humane and acceptable emergency settlements for vulnerable populations? Rather than imposing already-known and categorised solutions, project explores a bottom-up approach, analysing the patterns of refugee movement - the "rules" that govern the "human flocking" in times of crisis. The moiré effect becomes a tool for uncovering these hidden rules, revealing the pathways and rhythms of mass movement. Tracing the lines of displacement and understanding the subconscious logic that forces people towards safety, leads to stimulation of their inherent self-organizing capabilities, thus to provision of supportive inputs. The key input is the design proposal of the camp itself: a settlement built around culturally resonant patterns - familiar architectural motifs or spatial arrangements. The proposals target the uncontrolled shelter growth, including revitalization of existing urban structures and redesigning housing units in three phases, all based on housing patterns from Myanmar. This isn't (only) about architecture; it's about offering a sense of familiarity and belonging, but also about acknowledging the cultural identity that people are too afraid to lose. Crucially, this approach prioritizes the well-being of the most vulnerable: children. A village with an orphanage serves as a guiding input, signalising and emphasizing the importance of preserving children's privacy, addressing their specific needs, and providing opportunities for education and play. In the end, the whole phenomenon is about creating a space where children can not only survive, but also thrive finding their own path - beyond bare life.