Frode Ljøkjell: To be, or not to be - and then some; living in a refugee tent camp
Research Fellow at Bergen National Academy of the Arts, Dept. of Design
How can spatial design be a relevant part of the relief, facing humanitarian disasters? A holistic thinking for the design, setup and use of a tent camp for crisis, with the aim to meet the cultural variations in standardized solutions.
Most designing processes, to be successful, depend upon the designers’ ability to reduce and extract till the essence of the project or product appears. Not unlike Shakespeare’s or rather Hamlet’s boiled down question; “To be or not to be”.
On the other side, it is of an equal importance not to extract too much.
The tent is the main component in a tent camp. With proper design and placement in relation to the next; tents have the potential to cover more and greater needs, beyond providing shelter alone. Conducting spatial research with a technical absorption in construction, materials, structures and details are important topics to reach the goal. I will work for solutions to spatial relationships that contribute to greater security, privacy and well-being. This be, not only to the space for privacy but, for the tent camp as a whole. I will seek to achieve an optimal balance between the individual needs of the local cultural conditions and a universally applicable solution. With expert help from a social anthropologist / ethnographer, relief organizations (NGOs), and residents in tent camps, I think that a camp can be not only for survival, but also to live in.
The challenge should be to create space, space to be, whether it is outside or inside. Space for activities for social, as well as private life. The consequence of inadequate understanding of the housing's potential qualities may contribute to expenses and problems, also in terms of health and social issues. I would also argue that in such a context, aesthetics be a weapon against apathy.