Home After Crisis

There are many architectures that belong to our daily life. Nevertheless, there are few places that we are willing to call “home”. 

Home. 

Home is the place of memories, affections and identity. People’s life is an act of connection and estrangement from the place called "home." Any evolution, emancipation or nomadism requires a place to depart and to return to. 

Only by going right to the heart of the emotional and anthropological meaning of home, it is possible to picture the tragedy of losing it or have a glimpse of the condition of people who are affected by humanitarian crises like conflict or disasters.   

Since 2015, the North-East of Nigeria has witnessed an increase of violence, causing an unprecedented housing emergency. As of 2023, an estimated 3.5 million people lost their homes or lives in precarious conditions.        

This scenario, combined with one of the most sustained population growths in the world and a country-wide housing deficit, requires immediate response to provide sustainable, long-term solutions.  

This is the context of “Nigeria: Home After Crisis”, the competition promoted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency and funded by the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF). The goal is to design a low-cost, incremental, modular and upgradable housing solution for populations disrupted by violence in rural areas of North-East Nigeria.  

Which places will millions of people be able to call home again? How to recreate identity, affections, happy memories through architectural design?   

In one of the key contexts of the contemporary housing emergency, young designers are called upon to design a place that can alleviate suffering and offer a welcoming environment where they can feel safe and start their lives over. A place they can call “home”.  

This competition has significant social impacts and aims to consolidate the role of architecture as a discipline fostering rights and social equity, meeting fundamental human needs not just in terms of efficiency but also ensuring quality ideas and aesthetic ambition. Indeed, humans, in all conditions and contexts, deserve dignity and beauty.