Wissam Chaaya

Syrian refugee camps are relatively new. They started emerging with the onset of the Syrian war in 2011, and consist of temporary, informal settlements rather than built structures. Indeed, Syrian refugees have erected tents on empty plots of terrain, rented, or squatted. They have rarely used abandoned structures as shelters. As a result, their camps reflect more visibly the emergency to settle down. Therefore, public spaces in these camps are seen as not being vital and as a consequence the quality of everyday lives is degraded. With time, unused space around camps has become useful in a way. Inhabitants have often transformed it to accommodate to their need for space. All sorts of activities take place spontaneously in improvised spaces around camps. The refugees use them in an unorganized, as-needed sort of way. Refugee kids are no strangers to this either; they are on the frontline of the quest for space. They are in a permanent search for grounds to play on. Their liveliness brings life to unused spaces and transforms them temporarily into playgrounds, fulfilling their needs far from home. These are the Playscapes of Exile.

Image 1 – How will we live together?
Kids playing in the cemeteries inside Al Baddawi camp in Tripoli, Lebanon.
Al Baddawi camp is considered one of the major Palestinian camps in Lebanon. It is part of the city of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon. It spreads on a one square kilometer land rented by the UNRWA from the Lebanese government. Although it is a Palestinian camp, its inhabitants are Palestinian refugees due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Syrians, Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria during the Syrian war, and Lebanese. Sixty thousand inhabitants are living on one square kilometer, transforming it into a vertically developing city.

Image 2 – Sneak peek of the project
Kids from Joub Jannine refugee camp waiting for their school bus to come take them to school to attend afternoon classes.
Joub Jannine camp is a Syrian refugee camp located in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, close to the Lebanon-Syria border. It is a rented land where refugees can build their own tents. Normally the tents are provided by UNHCR, UNICEF or a humanitarian NGO. Syrian refugee kids can attend afternoon classes in Lebanese public schools that have two different schedules for Lebanese and for Syrian refugee students.