Designing Secure Architectural Spaces for Refugee Women

The primary goal of this research and design project is to conceptualize architectural solutions that prioritize the safety, security, and well-being of refugee women in displaced settings. By examining existing literature and case studies such as those by Chan (2015) on spatial morality and Oesch (2017) on ambiguous spaces within camps, we aim to understand the multifaceted challenges faced by these communities. The project will explore innovative design strategies that not only provide basic shelter but also promote social integration and resilience among refugee populations. Key aspects of this assignment include evaluating the importance of sunlight, air circulation, and communal areas in fostering a healthy living environment as highlighted by King et al. (2014) and Gómez-Baggethun & Barton (2013). Additionally, it will consider how architecture can play an active role in restoring connections with society for individuals who have been isolated for extended periods. The design process will incorporate sustainable materials and practices to ensure that these architectural solutions are environmentally friendly and economically feasible. The project will also emphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement, as discussed by Korsunova et al. (2015), ensuring that refugee women themselves are involved in shaping their living environments. Ultimately, this assignment aims to produce a comprehensive design proposal that outlines actionable strategies for architects, urban planners, and policymakers working on refugee accommodations worldwide. Through thoughtful design interventions, we can create spaces that not only protect but also empower refugee women, facilitating their transition into new communities.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Reflective Essay
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Spatial Agency
Spatial agency is a very new method of looking towards the ways of constructing
buildings and producing the space within the building. There is a difference between the
concepts of spatial production and that of building or the construction as the space is temporal.
On the other hand, the construction or the building is just static in nature; it is something that
constantly refined through the taste and the techniques. One of the most important things that the
architects must keep in mind while constructing the buildings is the aspect of social
responsibility. Another thing that is to be kept in mind is that there is a kind of shift or a
transformation in the responsibility as it gets transformed from the architects to the clients. One
of the important aspects of this spatial agency is that the agent is always someone who has to
empower others. Here, the concept of empowering means allowing others o be capable enough
of taking control over the environment. There are different ways in which the architects must
design the buildings in order to make sure that the clients or the persons who will be staying
inside the buildings can enjoy a healthy and safe living. In other word, the architects have to
keep in mind that in order to keep the clients healthy and happy, the houses need to be
constructed in a way that is different from just the normal parameters (Gómez-Baggethun &
Barton., 2013. There is however a very strong and intrinsic connection present between the
architecture that is building or the design of the architecture and the physical and mental well
being of the clients or the inmates of the house who will be staying in them. The architects must
be made aware of the fact that they have some or the other kind of social and ethical
responsibilities while designing or constructing any buildings. The architects must make sure
that there are some of the very basic needs that they need to focus upon while constructing the
buildings. The most important aspects that they need to emphasize upon is that of the social,

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
psychological, ecological, physical and several other such basic needs that will enable to human
beings to have a happy and safe life (Diener et al .,2015).
Henri Lefebvre’s view
As far as the opinion of Henri Lefebvre, a space is something that is made up of a large
number of fragmented parts of the nature is located at so many different sites. However, as far as
the modern day construction system is concerned, the natural space is becoming much more
congested and over populated because of the huge political forces coming into it. Absolute space
is something that does have some
About space given by Henri Lefebvre’s assertion that space and the political organization
of space, expresses social relationships. One of the important aspects is representational spaces.
Representational space happens to be one of the most important aspects of construction and
architecture because of the fact that representational space is something that is living. It is almost
like a different entity (Reese & Kohler., 2015). It is a particular kind of space that lives. It has a
kind of affective centre or a space of force that is the storehouse of all the different kinds of
emotions like that of ego, anger, dwelling, and house. The Representational space as the very
name suggests is something that acts as the representative of the human emotions (Diener et al.,
2015). It embraces the loci of passion, of action and of the different live situations and thus
implies time immediately.
Another important aspect is that of the social space. The social space is a social product.
It can be said that there are two kinds of spaces that is the social space and then physical space.
Social space is something that incorporates the social actions. So in other words, it can be said
that social space is something within which the social being that is mankind has to survive. This

4REFLECTIVE ESSAY
survival definitely will comprise of all the actions and reactions that a human being has to
perform as he is a social being (Diener et al., 2015). Space rather social space is a very important
part of the existence of each and every individual because it is the same space where they are
born; it is also the very same pace that will give them the expressions to all their actions and the
reactions. It is also within this same space that they will gain different feelings and different
emotions, it is also within this same given social space that they will die they will perish and will
be buried. So, it is the same given social space that will witness all the important life functions
and activities of their life. Hence, it is also very much evident from this fact that social space is
something that tool for the analysis of the society or the way in which the society works. Hence
the architect has to keep in mind the concept of the social space and design the house
accordingly.
Another important concept is that of the true space and real space. True space is the
mental space and the real space and the real space is the social space. Both these are very much
essential for the proper growth and development of the people living within the space (Diener et
al., 2015). The other important concept that the architects must keep in mind is that the buildings
that they construct is not only for the mere purpose of providing their clients with a suitable
home to live in. However, this house is the very space where their clients will come into contact
with the different emotions and experiences of their lives. Hence the house must be designed in
such a way that the in mates of the house can enjoy all the different realms of emotions within
the space. There must be enough space accommodated by the architects so that all the members
of the house can have a safe and sound place to live and interact with all the different activities
taking place in and around them.

5REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Construction of shelter for refugee women and girls
In order to make a shelter the architects have to keep in mind all the important aspects of
space that might be needed in order to provide the inmates of the house (Korsunova, Halme &
Goodman, 2015). Particularly, if the house is to be designed for women and girls, then the person
constructing the house has to be very much sure regarding the proper division of space. This
must be done in order to provide the social, physical, psychological balance (Chan, 2015). If the
student has to construct a house for providing shelter to the refugees in Australia, the first and
foremost thing that needs to be done is to provide proper safety and security to the people.
However, here the one important thin g that has to be kept in mind is the fact that the refugees
are the female folk. Females are the ones who are doubly dominated here. This is because of the
fact that the persons in question are refuges. Secondly the fact is that these refugees are females.
Hence, the first issue of concern for them is that of safety and security. While constructing this
shelter, the division of the space must be made in such a way so as to see that the location of the
house is in a safe place. In other words, the house must be located in close proximity to the
police protection areas (Gómez-Baggethun & Barton., 2013). They must be given
accommodation in such a place that will keep them emotionally and physically safe. The space
allotted to the refugee women must be such that would provide them enough ways of socializing
with the people. As they are refugee women, it is a known fact that they have been detached
from their social ties for a very long period. In a way, because of various reasons they had to cut
off almost all ties with the external world. Hence, their social contacts have to be rebuilt. They
must be kept in such a place that will give them easy and quick access to the legal, medical and
psychological ties. These spaces may take different names like women safe spaces, women
shelters and many others.

6REFLECTIVE ESSAY
As they are refugees, they often suffer from several healths relayed problems as well. Hence, the
shelters constructed for them must be sufficient to provide them with a large and open space in
order to supply a fresh and clean flow of air (King et al., 2014).
They must not feel suffocated or congested within their shelters. There must be sufficient
amount of sunlight and air flowing in and out of the room. There must also be sufficient informal
space around the physical space in order to make the refugee women more actively participate in
the mainstream social activities. In the words, there has to be sufficient allotment of space for
public gatherings and public meetings. There must be an open courtyard with free and fresh air
all around where the women can conduct regular meetings of with other women (Koyama,
2014). Apart from this, there must be proper furniture present in the house that would enable the
refugee women to refresh themselves as and when needed. The furniture that are to be, made
present within the house are cabinets with proper lock system, there must also be sufficient
amount of tables and chairs so that each and every women can use it for their own personal as
well as private activities. There must also be proper access to all forms of social media so that
the woman can easily stay connected to the outside world. Some of the refuge women can also
be physically wounded or disabled, hence proper facilities are also to be kept for that. There must
be sufficient provisions made in order to let the disabled women live proper lives. There must be
accommodation made for home gyms as well (Chan, 2015).. It can so happen that these refugee
women are suffering from some or the other health related issues or any particular physical
condition that needs thorough exercise sessions. There must be a large open room or open
courtyard where the gym equipments can be used.
There must also be sufficient accommodations made for proper health and medical
facilities as well. Apart from that, sufficient arrangements are to be made in the house so that the

7REFLECTIVE ESSAY
women can help themselves with sufficient amount of first hand medical help as and when
needed. There must be proper means of communication available in and around their location so
that they can easily go and seek for medical help whenever in need (King et al., 2014).
Apart from this, there has to be library as well. This is because of the fact that the women
are to be provided with proper facilities that would enable them to acquire education and
knowledge. Women are to be given a space of their own. Being refugees, they have been
deprived from all the educational facilities so long. However it has to be kept in mind that
providing shelter or accommodation to the refugee women must not only mean that they are to
be given a physical space. However, the other spatial agencies must also be properly kept in
mind apart from the physical space. There has to be enough accommodation made for the
representative space as well. It is for this reason that the space is something that will represent
their very existence and the way they react with the various Aspects of their environment. As
spatial agency is very much associated with the concept of empowering others. It is the
responsibility of the architects or the designers to make sure that the shelter they are building for
the accommodation of the refugees must be such that it would contribute sufficiently towards the
personal development of the refugees as well (Ricci, 2017). The aim of the designer must be to
provide the refuges with a shelter that will not only look after their homely needs but their
educational, social, psychological needs as well (Sanyal, 2014). It is for this reason that the
designing of the shelters must be done is such a way that the refugees feel very much at home
(Chan, 2015). The construction of the refugee woman shelter must be done in such a way so that
the women and girls can also get a separate identity of their own. There must be a social agenda
associated with this project of constructing a woman refugee shelter (Jones et al., 2017). The
agenda must be aimed towards the construction of a social identity of the refugee women and

8REFLECTIVE ESSAY
girls. The main aim must be to provide the women with sufficient means of leading their lives
independently. The division of the space or the spatial agency must be such that it should always
help the inmates of the shelter to develop a secured identity of their own (Oesch, 2017).
I really feel that it is a great opportunity to be able to undertake a project like this. This is
because of the fact that I am not looking forward at this job with the perspective of only
designing a building. However the greater part of my interest here is the fact that I am trying to
provide a shelter to the refugees. In other words, I am trying to provide a home to the homeless
ones. I will always try to keep this in mind that whenever I am designing a building for the
refugee women I have to provide them a space of their own. In other words, I need to keep in
mind that whenever I am trying to provide a space to the women and the girls, a greater emphasis
must be provided at the safety and the security of the women. This is because of the fact that
these refugee women are the ones who have been detached from the world for a very longer
period of time. So, it is through the construction of the shelter or a space that their connection
with the world has to be rebuilt. I will also make sure that there is ample amount of sunlight and
air flowing within the house so that the inmates of the house can lead a fresh and disease free
life. Apart from this, the refugee women and the children are to be provided enough medical aids
so that they do not suffer from any severe medical condition (Oesch, 2017).
However, according to me the most important aspect that I will try to maintain while
designing the house is that these refugee women and girls can breathe freely within the society as
well. There must be ample open space left in the house for holding public gatherings or any
regular meetings of NGOs or any other meeting of the woman parties. There must also be

9REFLECTIVE ESSAY
enough toys and books kept for the refugee children and also for the other refugee women and
children. This is an attempt to bring in the women into the mainstream marginal social activities.

10REFLECTIVE ESSAY
References
Chan, J. (2015). Moral agency in architecture? The dialectics of spatializing morality and
moralizing spaces. Architecture, Materiality and Society: Connecting Sociology of
Architecture with Science and Technology Studies, 198-214.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2015). National accounts of subjective well-
being. American Psychologist, 70(3), 234.
Gómez-Baggethun, E., & Barton, D. N. (2013). Classifying and valuing ecosystem services for
urban planning. Ecological Economics, 86, 235-245.
Jones, R., Johnson, C., Brown, W., Popescu, G., Pallister-Wilkins, P., Mountz, A., & Gilbert, E.
(2017). Interventions on the state of sovereignty at the border. Political Geography, 59,
1-10.
King, M. F., Renó, V. F., & Novo, E. M. (2014). The concept, dimensions and methods of
assessment of human well-being within a socioecological context: a literature
review. Social indicators research, 116(3), 681-698.
Korsunova, A., Halme, M., & Goodman, J. (2015). Understanding stakeholder engagement in
sustainabilityoriented innovation processes of business enterprises. In EGOS Colloquium.
Athens.
Koyama, J. (2014). Constructing gender: Refugee women working in the United States. Journal
of Refugee Studies, 28(2), 258-275.
Oesch, L. (2017). The refugee camp as a space of multiple ambiguities and
subjectivities. Political Geography, 60, 110-120.

11REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Reese, K., & Kohler, T. (2015). Agency of Access: Public Architecture in Mesa Verde National
Park. In The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Ricci, D. (2017). Building a More Trusting and Caring Society: Surveillance and the Evolving
Role of Architecture in Developing Positive Community Spaces.
Sanyal, R. (2014). Urbanizing refuge: interrogating spaces of displacement. International
Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(2), 558-572.