Architecture in Context
I describe myself to be passionate about architectural theory and I am always 'hungry' for research. I like exploring the limits of architecture and I love discovering its vastness. I believe there is a bit of architecture in every aspect of our life and a bit of every one of these aspects in architecture.
home-making away from ‘home’;
a discourse on the homelessness of the Cypriot refugee
and the architect’s role in restoring that
Abstract
This research examines the complex and multidimensional phenomenon of home. The notion of this fundamental place for humans is highly challenged through the introduction of refuge and migration in our nomadic world. Cyprus and its people have been highly challenging the significance of the idea of home for the last 43 years. After a series of violent acts in the island, about 250,000 Cypriots were forced to leave their homes and relocate in other parts of the island. The anticipation and nostalgia of the first generation of displaced Cypriots gradually turn into disinterest and apathy of the following generations. The de facto partition of the island has distanced both Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees from their homelands. As the time goes by, the North side of the island has been eradicated from the Greek-Cypriot community. This study adopts a phenomenological approach of interviewing to compare the feelings of two different generation refugees towards their homeland in relation to their personal or collective memories from there. Using the theories on place, place attachment, home, place identity, and dwelling explored in parallel with the case study, the study attempts to tackle the architect’s role in restoring or overcoming Cypriot refugees’ homelessness.