Assemblages of Sensible Architecture: Syrian Displacement in Beirut's Vertical Informal Settlements
Öz
This paper investigates how Syrian displaced households exercise spatial agency through the informal occupation and modification of an abandoned high-rise building in Beirut's Hamra district. Applying Jacques Rancière's concept of "the distribution of the sensible" as an analytical lens, the paper examines how spatial practices in vertical informal settlements constitute political interventions that challenge dominant narratives of urban habitability. This paper aims to document and analyse the spatial adaptation strategies employed by Syrian migrant households in the Wizarat Al Iqtissad building between August 2024 and January 2025, and to assess how these strategies challenge conventional architectural and humanitarian responses to displacement. Using a qualitative ethnographic methodology comprising semi-structured interviews (n=14), photo-elicitation, participant observation, and spatial documentation, the paper finds that households develop informal governance structures and produce cyclical mobility patterns within the building. These practices constitute what the paper terms "sensible architecture", spatial knowledge derived from lived social reality that makes marginal communities and their adaptive strategies visible. The findings suggest that informal spatial practices in vertical settlements represent underrecognised forms of architectural expertise that warrant engagement by professionals rather than replacement through purpose-built solutions.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Syrian Migrants, Humanitarian Architecture, Politics of Visibility, Housing of Displaced, Spatial Adaptation
Destekleyen Kurum
Proje Numarası
Etik Beyan
Teşekkür
Kaynakça
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