In Flux Unplanned Spatial Adaptations in Syrian Refugee Camps

Abstract

The interiors of refugee camps are spaces of necessity, resilience, and constant negotiation. Far from static or predetermined, these environments evolve through the improvisational agency of displaced communities. This visual essay illustrates how Syrian refugees retrofit and reconfigure shelter units to recreate spatial conditions that mirror deep-rooted cultural practices. Within the constraints of standardised humanitarian planning, refugees enact makeshift adjustments that transform rigid layouts into dynamic and culturally resonant interiors. Through these adaptive practices, ranging from self-built partitions and communal extensions to informal marketplaces, camps become sites of unplanned interiority, where social bonds and spatial memories materialise despite displacement.

This research draws from extensive fieldwork in Al Zaatari Refugee Camp, incorporating photography, video documentation, and diagrammatic analysis to capture the evolving spatial negotiations within the camp. By foregrounding the lived experiences of refugees in Al Zaatari Camp, the study challenges conventional notions of planning and design as top-down processes. Instead, it highlights the agency embedded in informal and emergent spatial interventions that contest the anonymity of the humanitarian shelter. Through critical engagement with concepts of temporality, maintenance, and shared authorship, this study situates refugee camps as evolving, co-produced interiors that extend beyond mere crisis planning and accommodation. Ultimately, it argues for an expanded understanding of interiority — one that recognises unplanned spatial practices as central to sustaining community, identity, and belonging in the face of ongoing uncertainty.