Syria Post-War Housing International Competition

Therapeutic Decay

“A ruin is more than a collection of debris. It is a place with its own individuality, charged with its own emotion and atmosphere and drama… These qualities must be preserved as carefully as the broken stones which are their physical embodiment…”
— Christopher Woodward

The remains of war left behind broken structures and a shattered social system in Syria. From May 2011 to May 2014, Homs, our chosen site, was one of the most severely damaged cities in Syria during the Civil War. The conflict between the Syrian military and the opposition scarred 13,778 structures within this third largest city of the country. What remains of the original residential areas is now defaced and open wounded, no longer approachable. This project aims to introduce a social structure that defines a new layer of meaning between the new residential areas and the remnants left from the war.

To clean, reclaim, and rebuild these ruins, the government would need to invest huge funding, a significant amount of labor, and overextended time, all of which are lacking due to the circumstances of war. To address this challenge, the project proposes leaving the ruins to decompose naturally, accelerating the process by introducing carefully selected natural interventions. We then propose utilizing the original streets and alleys, the only spaces that remain unharmed, for the immediate construction of new physical structures. This allows the city to reclaim the ruins and rebuild new structures in parallel. These reclaimed areas are covered with flexible textiles and mobile structures, providing open or enclosed spaces according to activities and weather conditions. The rebuilt areas accommodate inhabitation, education, meditation, and other uses such as gatherings, marketplaces, assemblies, and public activities.

Due to the high evaporation rate during the dry summer season, water is difficult to retain. The new structures take the form of funnels shaped by Arabic arches. This top wide narrow bottom form guides rainwater through a small opening to the surrounding debris, creating a ready made, highly absorbent aquifer. Above the ruins, the fiber canopy retains humidity within its perimeter, functioning as a city humidifier that benefits plant growth. As plants thrive among the ruins, decomposition is further accelerated.

Every broken piece of the ruins is a physical manifestation of war and memory, remaining with the returning Syrian people. When these pieces break down, decompose, and nurture growth, they follow an optimized natural course that reflects the city’s memory: disintegration, reconciliation, formation of new meaning, and regeneration of the integral body of Syrian cities and their people. As the ruins fully heal and are covered by plants, and as the soil becomes resilient and fertile once again, the ruins cease to be ruins. They become virgin land, ready for the rebirth of life.