Kalobeyei Settlement: Urban Planning for a Refugee Camp

expanding design practices, Low Density, Project, Shigeru Ban, Technology and fabrication

Block, Bricks, Construction, Design, Emergency architecture, Empowering society, Ethics, Housing, Kenya, Local materials, Local techniques, Paper, Project, Refugee camps, Temporary settlements, Timber

In March 2017, UN Habitat presented a major urban planning project for Kalobeyei refugee camp in Turkana County in Northern Kenya. With over 17,000 refugees arriving from countries such as South Sudan, the new settlement was in urgent need of shelters. Thus, in June, the UN program organization contacted Shigeru Ban to design a model for permanent shelters for their planning project in Kalobeyei Settlement. Shigeru Ban visited Kalobeyei Settlement to investigate the site and its potential. During his visit, Ban studied the local houses and construction techniques, as well as the locally available materials