Displaced Women: Stitching Through Transitional Period Beyond Liminality

Abstract

Women during and post-displacement are the most vulnerable to violence and at risk of their livelihood. It has become common for individuals and communities to experience more than one displacement in their lifespan, which affects them socially, economically, and mentally. This calls for a serious re-evaluation of how architects design camps during the pivotal phase of displacement, the transitional period. How can camp design bring a sense of belongingness and increase resiliency to overcome liminality during transitional period?

This thesis re-imagines the existing camp hosting the Syrian community displaced in Türkiye as an opportunity to rehabilitate women in displacement, to enable them to look beyond the liminality and remerge into society. This is achieved by using traditional handicraft as a tool and by weaving a new camp typology to navigate the sociocultural, psychological, and economical challenges, for the betterment of the camp life during the transitional period.