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Emergency settlements: General resources

Recommended resources on the shelter needs of populations displaced by natural or political events, providing location info for print resources and links for digital resources.

Recommended articles

Recommended for all architectural research

Specialized resources on related topics

Armstrong, Allen, "Evolving Approaches to Planning and Management of Refugee Settlements, Ekistics, #342-3, 1990, p. 342-343

Clouette, Benedict, “We can't save you, but we can make you more comfortable: aging and humanitarian space,” Volume, #29, 2011, p. 136-138

Gans, Deborah, “The refugee camp: ecological disaster of today, metropolis of tomorrow,” Architectural design, March/April 2004, p. 82-86

Gehring, Mathias, “On the way home,” Topos, 2015, #93, p.72-79

Griswold, Eliza, "Everyone is an immigrant," Poetry, January 2012 (HTML full text via Poetry magazine)

Herscher, Andrew, Displacements : architecture and refugee, Sternberg Press, HV640 .H47 2017

Herz, Manuel, “The refugee camps of the Western Sahara,” Lotus International, September 2015, p.52-61

Hyndman, Jennifer, Managing displacement: refugees and the politics of humanitarianism, University of Minnesota Press, 2000 (via Ebook Central)

Jacobs, Karrie, “What’s next: rethinking the refugee camp,” Architect, January 2017, p.78-82, 84, 86

Kaltenbach, Frank, “Steel container, timber element or solid? System building – also for refugees,” Detail (English edition), September / October 2017, p.60-66

Lang Ho, Cathy, “Safe haven: disasters and war have left millions homeless around the world - can architects help?” Architecture, November 2002, p. 80-83

Osman, Alishine Hussein, “Traversals: in and out of the Dadaab refugee camps,” Perspecta, 2017, Vol.50, p.173-191

Petti, Alessandro, “The concrete tent: a paradox of permanent temporality,” Perspecta, 2017, Vol.50, p.193-202

Prizeman, Mark, “Emergency dwelling,” Architectural design, July/August 2003, p. 57-63

Rosapina, Elisabetta, “Looking beyond the emergency,” Abitare, September 2017, p.75-81

Siddiqi, Anooradha Iyer, Architecture of migration : the Dadaab refugee camps and humanitarian settlement, Duke University Press, NA2543.S6S575 2024

Sokol, David, “Record invites designers to redefine the refugee experience,” Architectural Record, October 2008, p. 94-99

“Urgence! tents, sustainable shelters and other experiments,” Architecture d'aujourd'hui, May/June 2011 (Theme issue)

Villatoro, Paco Mejias, et al, Off-grid toilets : compilation, analysis and comparison, Altrim Publishers, GT476 .O4 2023

Women in refugee camps,” Signs, Spring 2007 (Theme issue)

Please note

  • These guides are intended to provide initial orientation, and suggest a variety of different lines of investigation—not take the place of individual research.
  • All the resources cited here--print and digital--are available through the Kappe Library at SCI-Arc.Items not available at SCI-Arc are not included.
  • Surveys covering multiple projects are preferred over monographic studies focusing on specific works or individuals.
  • Resources on Los Angeles and Southern California are stressed.
  • Proprietary digital resources (Avery Index, Oxford Art Online, ArtStor, etc) can be accessed on-campus at SCI-ARC via any SCI-Arc internet provider. Off-campus they can be accessed 24/7 via the Kappe Library proxy server, and a valid SCI-Arc Network username and password.

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