Rebuilding Homs

(graffiti in Old Homs)

(Homs Old Town before and after civic war)

Old Homs has been completely destroyed in Syrian Civic War. It is around 1.2km2, where the oldest mosques and churches are located there.

Before the French colonization, Muslims and Christians peacefully coexisted in the intimate network of streets, squares and souks. However after the “modernization”, communities are zoned by class, creed and affluence. The tensions among the citizens have been built up, which catalyzed the civic war. During the war, a siege which isolated the old city had been lasted from May 2011 to May 2014. After the breakdown of the siege, refugees start returning to Homs. According to Unicef, hundreds of families have moved into the formerly besieged area. As more continue to return, there is an urgent need for rebuilding. The redevelopment plan will not only focus on the practical and economic aspects of people’s life, but also to their social, spiritual and psychological needs.

(Old Map of Homs Old Town)

Research Question:

• Through studying the daily route and behavior, how the believers of various religions coexist in a district?
• Referring to defensible space theory by Oscar Newman, how residential area can become key agents in maintaining a peaceful district?
• How the city is monitored, by drone and lookout station?
• How the city could be secured against terror without looking like war zone?

Bibliography

• The Return to Homs, 2013, Talal Derki
• Architecture and Our War-Torn Cities, Architectural Review, 2014
• The Battle for Home: the Vision of a Young Architect in Syria, Marwa Al-Sabouni, 2016

Burning Man Festival is an annual gathering that takes place at Black Rock City for a week, which is treated as an experiment of temporary community. The end of this temporary city is marked by burning of all sculptures. Participants leave no physical trance and everything returns to the origin. This pop-up city is a large scale festival which is very dynamic.

Peter Cook believed that an instant city can be deliberately overstimulated to produce mass culture and excite people life. This also reminds me of the Occupying Central, which makes people rethink the role of a city. I would like to study how short the lifecycle of a city can be and what effect it can bring to the society.

(Image of Burning Man 2015, by Courtesy)

(City Planning of Burning Man, by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

(“HK protesters brace for clearance after injunction published”, by REUTERS)

Bibliography

• Bowditch, Rachel, “On the edge of utopia: Performance and ritual at Burning Man”, Seagull books, 2012
• Chen, Katherine K, “Artistic Prosumption: Cocreative Destruction at Burning Man.” American Behavioral Scientist 56(4): 570–595, 2012
• Chen, Katherine K, “Prosumption: From Parasitic to Prefigurative.” The Sociological Quarterly 56(3): 446-459, 2015.
• Clupper, Wendy, “Burning Man: Festival culture in the United States, Festival Culture in a Global Perspective. Festivalising! Theatrical Events, Politics and Culture”, New York/Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2007