Ayham Dalal
Ayham Dalal is an architect, urban planner and artist based in Berlin. He has a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Technische Universität Berlin (with distinction "Summa Cum Laude"), and a double Master's degree in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) from Stuttgart University and Ain Shams University. And a Bachelor's in Architectural Engineering from Al-Baath University in Homs, Syria.
In his research, Ayham focuses on urban space, informality, resilience, culture, power dynamics, and identity politics. In particular, he is interested in the socio-spatial practices and transformations of space and how they can be mapped and visualized through mixed media and illustration techniques. His research is driven by strong interest in ethnography, anthropology, cultural studies and urbanization theories and how they can be linked to architectural design and contemporary urban practices.
Since Januray 2018, Ayham is co-leading and researching the project "Architecture of Asylum" which compares the socio-spatial practices of refugees in Jordan and Germany. The project is based at the Collaborative Research Center "Re-Figuration of Space" (SFB1265) funded by the German Research Society (DFG). He is also a principal investigator for the art-research initiative "Tracing and Assessing Syrian Urban Heritage in Exile" which has been grounded in 2017 and is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Working with a team of artists and researchers, the initiative explores the intersections between memory, heritage, place and displacement among Syrian refugees in Germany, Lebanon and Jordan.
In his PhD "From Shelters to Dwellings: On the Construction of Dwellings in Zaatari Camp, Jordan", Ayham looks at the intersections between the production of space, home, identity and the refugee camp. From the macro to the micro, he utilizes ethnographic observations, co-mappings, narratives, 3D modeling and detailed architectural drawings to explain processes ranging from camps production and planning, to spatial transformation, social grouping, and the representations of identity, home-making and the social coding of space. He has co-curated a touring exhibition under the title "The Durable Ephemeral: When the Temporary Settles" with the support of the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo) in which Ayham is a fellow researcher.
Before joining the Habitat Unit, Ayham studied architecture in Syria and graduated with excellence from the double master degree at Ain Shams University (Cairo) and Stuttgart University in 2014. Between 2015 and 2017 he has taught at TU Berlin and the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) and worked as consultant for the UK Prince's Charity (Turquoise Mountain). In parallel to research, Ayham practices art, graphic design and music production.
Address: www.ayhamdalal.com
In his research, Ayham focuses on urban space, informality, resilience, culture, power dynamics, and identity politics. In particular, he is interested in the socio-spatial practices and transformations of space and how they can be mapped and visualized through mixed media and illustration techniques. His research is driven by strong interest in ethnography, anthropology, cultural studies and urbanization theories and how they can be linked to architectural design and contemporary urban practices.
Since Januray 2018, Ayham is co-leading and researching the project "Architecture of Asylum" which compares the socio-spatial practices of refugees in Jordan and Germany. The project is based at the Collaborative Research Center "Re-Figuration of Space" (SFB1265) funded by the German Research Society (DFG). He is also a principal investigator for the art-research initiative "Tracing and Assessing Syrian Urban Heritage in Exile" which has been grounded in 2017 and is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Working with a team of artists and researchers, the initiative explores the intersections between memory, heritage, place and displacement among Syrian refugees in Germany, Lebanon and Jordan.
In his PhD "From Shelters to Dwellings: On the Construction of Dwellings in Zaatari Camp, Jordan", Ayham looks at the intersections between the production of space, home, identity and the refugee camp. From the macro to the micro, he utilizes ethnographic observations, co-mappings, narratives, 3D modeling and detailed architectural drawings to explain processes ranging from camps production and planning, to spatial transformation, social grouping, and the representations of identity, home-making and the social coding of space. He has co-curated a touring exhibition under the title "The Durable Ephemeral: When the Temporary Settles" with the support of the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo) in which Ayham is a fellow researcher.
Before joining the Habitat Unit, Ayham studied architecture in Syria and graduated with excellence from the double master degree at Ain Shams University (Cairo) and Stuttgart University in 2014. Between 2015 and 2017 he has taught at TU Berlin and the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) and worked as consultant for the UK Prince's Charity (Turquoise Mountain). In parallel to research, Ayham practices art, graphic design and music production.
Address: www.ayhamdalal.com
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Peer Reviewed Papers by Ayham Dalal
the differences in context, shelter typology and management. Thus, the paper argues that no matter how developed the shelters might be and how well designed they are, they will always be appropriated for the purpose of dwelling. Based on that, we give some recommendations on how shelters can be better designed and how their role can be enhanced within any refugee assistance programme in the future.
shelters and emergency accommodation has gained a new momentum. Established techno-managerial approaches have
been criticised as inappropriate, and the professional community of planners and architects was increasingly drawn into
debates for alternative solutions. This article traces the “innovations” that promise better, more effective, and more humane
emergency shelters using the examples of the “Tempohomes” in Berlin as well as the Jordanian refugee camps of
Zaatari and Azraq. In both cases, planners were employed to address the ambivalent reality of protracted refugee camps
and include “lessons” from failures of earlier solutions. While the article acknowledges the genuine attempt of planners to
engage with the more complex needs and expectations of refugees, a careful look at the results of the planning for better
camps reveals ambivalent outcomes. As camps acquire a new visual appearance, closer to housing, which mixes shelter
design with social spaces and services as essential parts of the camp; these “innovations” bear the danger of paternalistic
planning and aestheticisation, camouflaging control under what seems to be well-intended and sensitive planning. The
article focuses on refugees’ agency expressed in critical camp studies to interrogate the planning results. While recent critical
refugee studies have demanded recognition of refugees as urban actors which should be included in the co-production
of the spatial reality of refugee accommodations, new planning approaches tend to result in a shrinking of spaces of selfdetermination
and self-provisioning of refugees.
as interlinked phenomena. By comparatively examining the spatial-
material arrangements of three Syrian refugee camps in
Jordan, it suggests that the ‘how’ question (or how to plan refugee
camps) has invited the housing agenda to appear spatially. In
the Jordanian case, this has led to the production of three distinctive
models of camps-housing namely a ghetto, a gated community
and a mass housing project. In the German context, it has
led to the production of camps phased into permanent and
hybrid models of housing. Finally, and by underlying that the
camp is first and foremost a form of urban housing, it suggests
that the concepts, themes and analytical tools developed in housing
studies has the potential to unpack the complexity of the
camp and how it interlinks with our cities and urban realities
today.
This paper looks into the different dimensions and dynamics through which politics are being practiced and represented in Zaatari camp. It explains how and why, an informal power structure like 'street leaders' appeared in the camp, and how the attempts to develop a city-like governance structure became very problematic in the theoretical absence of politics. Regarding the latter, the paper shows how architecture, space and territories became arenas for practicing a 'camouflaged' politics, and how refugees crossed the borders of exclusion and acted as citizens, focusing on the case of 'Al Bahrini' School.
Interviews by Ayham Dalal
Migration has always played a major part in creating a European identity, derived from a thriving pluralistic space. For centuries, the movement of people has shaped our societies and cities, and, consequently, has enriched our cultures and values. Today, Germany’s capital Berlin, which has had an Arab population since 1960, when thousands of Moroccans entered West Berlin as so-called “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers), has become the Arab capital of exile; a source of inspiration for new social movements and experimentations, driven by the Arab intellectual community. It has also become a site of multiple displacements where the older generation of migrants meet the new, triggering bottom-up placemaking and long-term sustainability within diverse neighborhoods. I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Ayham Dalal, one of the new generation of Arabs and top emerging scholars at the department of international urbanism and design at the Technical University in Berlin, who looks at the construction of space and home in the city and beyond to create a more just and livable future.
—Nicole Shea for EuropeNow
Reports by Ayham Dalal
Other publications by Ayham Dalal
Papers by Ayham Dalal
the differences in context, shelter typology and management. Thus, the paper argues that no matter how developed the shelters might be and how well designed they are, they will always be appropriated for the purpose of dwelling. Based on that, we give some recommendations on how shelters can be better designed and how their role can be enhanced within any refugee assistance programme in the future.
shelters and emergency accommodation has gained a new momentum. Established techno-managerial approaches have
been criticised as inappropriate, and the professional community of planners and architects was increasingly drawn into
debates for alternative solutions. This article traces the “innovations” that promise better, more effective, and more humane
emergency shelters using the examples of the “Tempohomes” in Berlin as well as the Jordanian refugee camps of
Zaatari and Azraq. In both cases, planners were employed to address the ambivalent reality of protracted refugee camps
and include “lessons” from failures of earlier solutions. While the article acknowledges the genuine attempt of planners to
engage with the more complex needs and expectations of refugees, a careful look at the results of the planning for better
camps reveals ambivalent outcomes. As camps acquire a new visual appearance, closer to housing, which mixes shelter
design with social spaces and services as essential parts of the camp; these “innovations” bear the danger of paternalistic
planning and aestheticisation, camouflaging control under what seems to be well-intended and sensitive planning. The
article focuses on refugees’ agency expressed in critical camp studies to interrogate the planning results. While recent critical
refugee studies have demanded recognition of refugees as urban actors which should be included in the co-production
of the spatial reality of refugee accommodations, new planning approaches tend to result in a shrinking of spaces of selfdetermination
and self-provisioning of refugees.
as interlinked phenomena. By comparatively examining the spatial-
material arrangements of three Syrian refugee camps in
Jordan, it suggests that the ‘how’ question (or how to plan refugee
camps) has invited the housing agenda to appear spatially. In
the Jordanian case, this has led to the production of three distinctive
models of camps-housing namely a ghetto, a gated community
and a mass housing project. In the German context, it has
led to the production of camps phased into permanent and
hybrid models of housing. Finally, and by underlying that the
camp is first and foremost a form of urban housing, it suggests
that the concepts, themes and analytical tools developed in housing
studies has the potential to unpack the complexity of the
camp and how it interlinks with our cities and urban realities
today.
This paper looks into the different dimensions and dynamics through which politics are being practiced and represented in Zaatari camp. It explains how and why, an informal power structure like 'street leaders' appeared in the camp, and how the attempts to develop a city-like governance structure became very problematic in the theoretical absence of politics. Regarding the latter, the paper shows how architecture, space and territories became arenas for practicing a 'camouflaged' politics, and how refugees crossed the borders of exclusion and acted as citizens, focusing on the case of 'Al Bahrini' School.
Migration has always played a major part in creating a European identity, derived from a thriving pluralistic space. For centuries, the movement of people has shaped our societies and cities, and, consequently, has enriched our cultures and values. Today, Germany’s capital Berlin, which has had an Arab population since 1960, when thousands of Moroccans entered West Berlin as so-called “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers), has become the Arab capital of exile; a source of inspiration for new social movements and experimentations, driven by the Arab intellectual community. It has also become a site of multiple displacements where the older generation of migrants meet the new, triggering bottom-up placemaking and long-term sustainability within diverse neighborhoods. I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Ayham Dalal, one of the new generation of Arabs and top emerging scholars at the department of international urbanism and design at the Technical University in Berlin, who looks at the construction of space and home in the city and beyond to create a more just and livable future.
—Nicole Shea for EuropeNow
From Shelters to Dwellings is the first study to uniquely combine ethnographic observations with new architectural research methods, to illustrate in detail how refugees inhabit shelters. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how camps and shelters are transformed by the powerful act of dwelling.