Building Common

The striking need for social and recreational activities in the Hotspot Camp in the Island of Leros led to the design for a new freely formed common space. To read more about the Leros Hotspot, visit the 'A New Hotspot Typology' project.

There’s a fine balance between proposing ideal solutions and accepting the fact that all interventions would have to resonate with decision making entities. With this in mind, a scaffolding system was used as the main structural element of the common space pavilions in the 'Building Common' project.

To break free from the military grid, but at the same time speak the language of solutions typically used by potential implementing partners the proposed structures for the new common space were horizontally rotated but still arranged in a repetitive network with varying distances between the columns. The structural elements were given color, standing out in the grey landscape.

The site plan and layout is based on the wish to create a circular movement throughout the site, which will contribute to diffusing the visual markers of the more sensitive programs, such as psychosocial support – and allow vulnerable groups to access these services without being monitored by others. Read more about psychosocial support in emergencies here