Architecture in children’s shelters serves a purpose beyond building physical spaces; it is about creating refuges that nurture healing, protection, and growth. For vulnerable children, designing these environments plays a vital role in their emotional recovery. Every aspect—from natural lighting to room layout—works together to create a secure and welcoming atmosphere, supporting their physical well-being and psychological and social development.
Camping, as defined in dictionaries, involves temporarily staying outdoors, setting up makeshift accommodations, and settling in natural surroundings. In architecture, tents symbolize these aspects, representing a typology that has endured across centuries and cultures, often linked with notions of impermanence and vulnerability.
In light of this common understanding, the term 'glamping' emerged in the early 2000s, blending 'camping' with 'glamour,' suggesting a fusion of camping with luxurious amenities. However, despite its recent popularization, the concept is far from original. Camping has not always been seen as the antithesis of luxury.
The International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the Qatar Red Crescent are set to receive 27 tents designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) to serve and support displaced populations. The donation is made by the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, and its human and social legacy program, Generation Amazing Foundation. The news was announced during the opening of a ZHA-EAA tent inside the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha, and it represents part of the country’s effort to ensure that the World Cup has a positive lasting effect after the closing of the tournament.
Since 2017, UN-Habitat, together with Shigeru Ban Architects, Philippe Monteil and the NGO Voluntary Architects' Network, developed several shelter typologies for a pilot neighborhood in Kalobeyei Settlement in Kenya. The Turkana Houses are meant to house South Sudanese and other refugees living in Northern Kenya who could not return to their original villages due to endless civil wars and conflicts. Unlike typical refugee shelters, these structures were meant to provide a home for long periods of displacement and the four typologies developed are informed by the extensive experience of Shigeru Ban Architects with disaster relief projects and the local building techniques of local people.
Following decades of ongoing socio-cultural and economic crises across the globe, the design community has realized that it is time to “design like they give a damn”. And with that, they embraced a movement that saw architects and designers use their acquired skills to develop design-based solutions to humanitarian crises, ranging from building modular housing and mapping landscapes, to developing mobile applications and documentaries, all from an altruistic standpoint. But since pro bono work is not yet ingrained in the ethos of architecture, how have architects broken out of the traditional model of “corporate” architecture and established a way to ensure ethical responsibility for human welfare?
