REFUGEE CENTER
In researching the refugee crisis that is occurring in Calais, I was struck by the volume of refugees that are currently in Calais and that are arriving daily. These people are forced to live in inhuman living conditions (nicknamed “The Jungle”) as they wait in limbo between the country that they fled and their opportunity to claim asylum. I began to consider basic human needs which are not being met in ‘The Jungle’ of Calais and developed 4 program areas for my design: Food, Health and Hygiene, Sleeping Quarters, and Education. Through a series of study models I worked towards an abstract representation of the movement between the four programs within a grid representing the site. The result was a fluid ribbon like form that grounds itself at control points within the grid. This became represented in my final design as a large scale architectural element that moved throughout the entire space. The form is made of perforated metal and wood materials that have a gradient shift as it passes from one program area to the next. The continuity of the form within a variety of materials acts not only as aesthetic way finding but as a tangible representation of the basic human needs that we are all dependent upon and entitled to.