The design of a Syrian refugee camp as part of the community of Perama, Lesvos, Greece

In this thesis I design a Syrian refugee camp in Perama, Lesvos- Greece. It indicates the permanent residence of Syrian refugees in the community of Perama, starting with their temporary placement inside the camp, and later on their permanent establishment in the re-constucted abandoned buildings of Perama. The aim is to revitilize the economy of Perama, which is agriculture and oil production based, and the overall community of Perama which at the moment has a lot of abandoned buildings. There is the need for workers in the agricultural sector and the construction sector of Perama, and through job placement of the refugees in the openings, both parties will profit: the local community will be revitalized and the economy will flourish due to the ascending number of working hands, and the Syrians will be given a chance to start their life again through having a residence and a job and earn the feeling of belonging. The camp will be based in an old leather factory owned by the Sourlangas family, that will be revitilized and it will consist of residences for the refugees and some public functions that respond to the needs of both the refugees and the local community. The final outcome is a series of functions that will connect the local community and the Syrian community, which will help in the establishment of the refugees in Perama.Since 2011 the refugee wave towards Greece is a very important issue, that has an exponential growth with its peak being in 2015 when there were about 1,000 refugees arriving daily. The strategic position of Lesvos being the closest greek grounds to the turkish boarders, constitutes the island as the main destination of the refugees. Due to their classification as “war refugees” and “economic refugees” some nationalities are deported, and the main nationality that remains is Syrians, and that is why I decided to work with them. The refugee wave is not only of academic importance but also of personal interest to me, since I am from Lesvos Greece and over the past year I have been volunteering in the refugee settlements and I have witnessed the extreem conditions that Syrians have to face due to the inadequate foundations on the island. Finally, in order to design an ideal refugee camp for Syrians, I had to do a survey on refugee camps case studies in order to realize why the existing modules do not work, I had to conduct surveys of the existing camps in Lesvos, and the leather factory in Perama. Moreover, I had to closely study the Syrian residence architecture in order to understand their traditions and principles and finally study the universal specification for refugee camps as stated in the UNHCR Handbook for Emergencies.