Al Za’atari Camp – Architecture by Refugees + Live Syrian Music

Join us for a special evening of ideas and music exploring the lived realities and spatial ingenuity of Al Za’atari. In the second half of the event, Syrian musicians will transport us through music, adding an unforgettable atmosphere to the evening.

This event explores the lived realities and spatial ingenuity within Al Za’atari, one of the world’s largest refugee camps. Home to around 80,000 people displaced by the Syrian war, Al Za’atari began as a highly ordered settlement designed by UNHCR, with rows of 15-square-metre caravans laid out on a rigid desert grid.

Yet, beyond this planned framework, a remarkable transformation has unfolded. Residents have reshaped the camp through everyday acts of adaptation—repositioning caravans, redefining streets, and creating vibrant social and economic spaces. Informal shopping streets have emerged, caravans have been clustered into extended family units, and private courtyards and gardens have taken root, turning a temporary settlement into a place with identity, resilience, and meaning.

Prof. Husam AlWaer (University of Dundee) leads this heart-warming and eye-opening event, to show that the region still has lessons for the rest of the world in the way it forms and manages its towns and cities. This seminar highlights Al Za’atari as a powerful, real-world experiment in human creativity and placemaking under extreme conditions. It examines how residents negotiate and redistribute space, expand opportunities for livelihoods, and introduce new housing arrangements and services.

Above all, it offers valuable insights with global relevance—demonstrating how people actively shape their environments, even in the most challenging circumstances.

This is event is in partnership with the Urban Design Group and the The Syrian British Society of the Built Environment.

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Host or Publisher Rethink Rebuild Society