Involving locals in post-disaster rebuilding can aid recovery from trauma and ensure communities are effectively restored, say Foster + Partners architects designing the Antakya masterplan following the Turkey-Syria earthquakes.
"The process of being part of the rebuilding and the regrowing, healing is a big word, but I think there is something healing when you're helping to bring a place back," said head of urban design at Foster + Partners Bruno Moser.
"In terms of the psychological experience of someone who lives through trauma, there's a need to come together through the physical construction and the physical ownership of [a place], even if it's impossible to build it exactly as it was," added studio partner Nicola Scaranaro. The architects spoke at a conference at Hatay Community Center
Moser and Scaranaro spoke to Dezeen last month following a presentation in Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, where they outlined Foster + Partners' goal for the city's rebuilding. It was held in the newly constructed Hatay Community Center.
The studio is developing the masterplan following deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on 6 February 2023, which destroying cities and killed more than 50,000 people.
Foster + Partners was enlisted to lead the project by the non-governmental organisation Turkish Design Council, which is spearheading the wider recovery efforts, starting from Hatay.
Studio "borrowing from the city before"
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