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Pavilion of the Western Sahara

2016

The Western Sahara is a country located at the western edge of the African continent. Formerly a Spanish colonial territory, and since 1975 occupied by Morocco, it has been called the world’s last remaining colony. With the beginning of a guerrilla war against Morocco, most of the Western Saharan population – the Sahrawis – had to flee across the border into Algeria where it settled in refugee camps, today housing approximately 160.000 Sahrawis. Even though the Sahrawis do not have control over their own country, they proclaimed independence of the Western Sahara on February 27, 1976. Its sovereignty is recognized today by approximately 40 countries, though its status remains unresolved.

Having lived for 40 years in refugee camps in the border zone of south-western Algeria, the Sahrawi population has developed a unique set of urban and architectural tools, as well as design methodologies to deal with the condition of transience and liminality. The buildings address topics such as permanence and temporality, modesty and decoration, tradition and modernity. These terms are not understood as opposites, but they always co-exist simultaneously in the architecture of the camps.

Tags: Refugee Camp, Refugees, Algeria, Sahrawi and Sahrawis Desert

Other projects tagged with Refugee Camp, Refugees, Algeria, Sahrawi and Sahrawis Desert
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha Qatar – I.M. Pei
Hu Hul Shen Earthquake Memorial, Chengdu China – Liu Jiakun
FLOAT House, New Orleans – Morphosis & Make it Right Foundation
Nike Box – KOSMOS
Beinecke Library Yale University – SOM
Qatar Foundation HQ – OMA
CAFA, Beijing – Arata Isozaki
Library Espana, Medellin, Colombia – Giancarlo Mazzanti
Guardian Art Center – BOS
Second Home Rooftop – Selgas Cano
Spui souterrain, The Hague – OMA, Rem Koolhaas
Pallikoodam School – Kottayam – Laurie Baker
HomeProjectsPallikoodam School – Kottayam – Laurie Baker
Iwan Baan Photography, Rozenstraat 145, 1016 NP Amsterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: studio@iwan.com — all images © Iwan Baan 1996 - 2022