The Architecture of Displacement

More than 500 children live in the refugee camp at Calais, France, which is today a growing town at the mouth of the Chunnel. The majority of these children are unaccompanied by parents or guardians. Life in the so-called “Jungle” is painful and tentative for them: According to Help Refugees, 129 children could not be accounted for in April following the sweeping demolitions of homes in the refugee camp in March.

The displacement of millions of people across the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Europe has given rise to permanent refugee communities in Dunkirk, France, and Lesbos, Greece, among others. The camps at Calais and beyond are home to a new kind of crisis architecture. The planning and stewardship of these camps has enormous, and sometimes deadly, consequences for their vulnerable residents.