ARCHIPELAGO I DESIGN STUDIO MELBOURNE SCHOOL OF DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
ARCHITECTURE DESIGN THESIS
CLARA FRIEDHOFF
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CRITICS, GUESTS AND SUPPORTS
PROF. PHILLIP GOAD DR. KAREN BURNS
CHAIR. DONALD BATES PROF. ALAN PERT
DENNIS PRIOR BYRON KINNAIRD KIM JANG YUN JOHAN HERMIJANTO MICHAEL ONG THOMAS STANISTREET
KATIE CHECKEN CLARA FRIEDHOFF PATRICK HEGARTY ADILAH IKRAM SHAH JAYDEN KENNY STEPHANIE KITINGAN JANNETTE LE MARC MICUTA JACK PU
STUDIO LEADER: TOMMY JOO
HETEROTOPIA Def.: spaces of otherness, which are neither here nor there, that are simultaneously physical and mental.
Asylum Seekers: Flee country for their own safety & cannot return unless the situation that forced them to leave improves.
CONTENTS
Introduction Thesis Statement Globalisation & forced migration Of place and non-place Seeking asylum in Australia Heterotopia Precedents Proposal The Site Design
INTRODUCTION
This architectural thesis project is based on a personal interest in architecture’s role within the sociopolitical and cultural discourse. It is fueled by the constant discussion concerning asylum seekers in the media as well as politics, which often makes us forget that it is people and lifes that are concerned. Having migrated myself from Germany six years ago I am familiar with what it means to try to strike roots in a new place. However, due to my cirumstances and country of origin, it has been made easy for me to now confidently call two places home. Asylum seekers are not so fortunate. They are not only exiled from their own home, but are also only welcomed by scepticism in Australia. This project therefore explores how an easier physical and mental transition into the Australian landscape may be possible and in what way architecture can play a role in doing so. Thank you to Tommy Joo for his ongoing support throughout the development of this project - the countless hours he has made himself available, his belief, words of warning, advice, wisdom and encouragement. This project would simply not have been possible without his dedication and trust.
THESIS STATEMENT
Heterotopia reframes the problematic of refugee detention and questions our societal complicity in policies that see those seeking asylum held in ‘factories of mental illness’1. The project investigates the physical and psychological transition made by forced migrants as they enter contemporary Australian society, and through this, explores the notion of ‘place’ in our globalised society. Heterotopia proposes the Argus Building in Melbourne’s CBD as the centre of a web connecting a multitude of sites which integrate refugee processing and detention into the urban context. Can the integration of detention into the urban landscape break down the social and cultural barriers that exist between asylum seekers and the Australian public? Can the elimination of spatial boundaries mitigate the feelings of isolation and alienation in a minority group which arrives traumatised and distraught? Can the problematic social implications of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ detention be subverted by transplanting this process into the city? Heterotopia places humanitarian concerns on our doorstep triggering empathy and provoking a paradigm shift in a collective relationship to displaced people. This project proposes that architecture can help articulate the question and offer elements of an answer.
1
coined by Australian of the Year Pat McGorrie
GLOBALISATION & FORCED MIGRATION
Globalisation allows us to constantly be on the move. We are in flux - in between arrival and departure.
Global Migration Patterns
==
VOLUNTARY MIGRATION FORCED MIGRATION
FORCED DISPLACEMENT (2012)
==
191M PEOPLE LIVE OUTSIDE THEIR COUNTRY OF BIRTH
Asylum Seeker Origins
Asylum Seeker Destinations
OF PLACE AND NON-PLACE
Forced migration results in displacement and the questioning of identity.
The Phenomenology of Place
“The basic meaning of place, its essence, does not ... Come from locations, nor from the trivial functions places serve, nor from the community that occupies it, nor from superficial and mundane experiences...The essence of place lies largely in the unselfconscious intentionality that defines places as profound centres of human existence. “ E Relph, ‘Place And Placelessness’
In Between Places “To be human is to have and to know your place.“ E Relph, ‘Place And Placelessness’
PAST
FUTURE
“Your home’s in the rubblehouse of time now, and you’re made thus, to yearn for what you lose.” Andre Aciman, ‘Out of Egypt’
“A place where boundaries dissolve a little and we stand there, on the threshold, getting ourselves ready to move across the limits of what we were into what we are to be.” (on Liminal Space) Victor Turner, ‘Liminality And Communitas’
Transition
SEEKING ASYLUM IN AUSTRALIA
Australian Migration History
Although an ‘immigration country’ and a large proportion of the population having been born overseas, Australia has always had an ambivalent relationship to its migrants. So-called ‘border protection’ has been a major part of Australia’s migration policies. For example at the beginning of the 20th century a policy was introduced that only allowed European migrants to enter the country (White Australia). This policy was in place until the 1970s.
25% OF PEOPLE LIVING IN AUSTRALIA HAVE NOT BEEN BORN HERE
Bonegilla Migration Centre
After World War II, the Australian Government actively sought migrants to help populate Australia. The Minister for Immigration at the time aimed to treble the size of the Australian population to improve our defence capability and foster economic growth. Calwell decided to reuse the facilities at some military camps to provide accommodation for new migrants. Between 1947 and 1971, over 300,000 migrants from more than 50 countries called Bonegilla their first “Aussie home.� The first migrants to arrive at the migrant centre were displaced persons who had lived in refugee camps in Europe. About half of the 170,000 displaced people coming to Australia between 1947 and 1951 lived at Bonegilla. Most of them stayed for about a month while they learnt to speak English and the way of life here. Then they were moved to work in areas where there was a labour shortage.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi, Michael Parr 2003
Media Perception The portrayal of the asylum seekers within the media is often misconceived and lacks facts. In recent years the issue has been highly politicized and slogans such has “Stop the boats” have been used by both political parties. The ‘asylum seeker’ has been dehumanised – personal stories and photographs are often absent, resulting in a lack of empathy and understanding within the public. The faceless ‘asylum seeker’ has been excluded from society and coined as ‘the other’.
Asylum Seeker Myths
MYTH 1
Asylum seekers are ‘illegal immigrants’
MYTH 2
People who arrive by boat are not ‘genuine refugees’
MYTH 3
When asylum seekers destroy their documentation they are cheating the system
MYTH 4
When asylum seekers destroy their documentation they are cheating the system
MYTH 5
Boat arrivals might be terrorists or pose other security risks
MYTH 6
Boat people are queue jumpers; they take the place of refugees patiently waiting in overseas camps
MYTH 7
Asylum seekers don’t use the proper channels — they come via ‘the back door’
MYTH 8
Asylum seekers are ‘country shoppers’; they could have stopped at safe places along the way
MYTH 9
Asylum seekers are ‘cashed up’ and ‘choose’ to come here
MYTH 10
People smugglers are ‘evil’ and the ‘vilest form of human life’
MYTH 11
Australia is losing control over its borders
MYTH 12
If we are too ‘soft’ there will be a flood of asylum seekers
MYTH 13
Offshore processing is the solution to boat arrivals
MYTH 14
Onshore asylum seekers only need temporary protection visas
MYTH 15
Charity begins at home; we can’t priviledge asylum seekers over ‘our own’ disadvantaged
MYTH 16
Refugees will strain our economy and threaten ‘our way of life’
MYTH 17
The ‘No Advantage’ principle is an effective response towards asylum seeker boat arrivals.
MYTH 18
Asylum Seekers are economic migrants
Mandatory Detention For all persons entering the country without a valid visa, while security and health checks are undertaken and the legitimacy of their remaining in australia is established.
AUTHORISED ARRIVAL WITH A VALID VISA
UNAUTHORISED ARRIVAL BY BOAT OR PLANE
APPLICATION FOR PROTECTION VISA
HEALTH, SECURITY & IDENTITY CHECKS
BRIDGING VISA
VISA GRANT
DETENTION CENTRE VISA GRANT COMMUNITY DETENTION
Facilities within Australia
“We will be compassionate, we will save lives, we will care for people but we will decide and nobody else who comes to this country.� Prime Minister John Howard, 28 October 2001
Welcome To Australia. Rosemary Laing.
The Asylum Seeker as ‘Homo Sacer’: “Human life...included in the juridical order solely in the form of its exclusion.” Agamben, ‘Homo Sacer’,
Australian Law does not set out standards for conditions or treatment of people in immigration detention. It does also not set a limit on the length of time a person can be held in migration detention.
Villawood Detention Centre
Villawood Detention Centre
There are already several organisations around the Melbourne CBD which support asylum seekers and provide services such as councelling, legal aid, education and employment situations. One of the is the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), which for example provides a caterig service.
Heterotopia, Rosie Hastie.
HETEROTOPIA
Set of spaces in the worl that are effectively realised Utopia, in which all real arrangements that can be found within society, are at one and the same time represented, challenged, and overturnes - a sort of place that lies outse all places yet is actually localisable. Foucoult - Of other Spaces
Heterotopia, Rosie Hastie.
Heterotopia, Rosie Hastie.
Heterotopia, HETEROTOPIA Rosie Hastie.
PRECEDENTS
Kurt Schwitter.
Picture of Spatial Growths Picture with Two Small Dogs (1920–39)
Richard Verrijt. The Inclusive Vity. An asylum seeker centre in Maastricht.
PROPOSAL/PROGRAM
Rather than following the current ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality, this projects explores how asylum seekers can be integrated into the city and society. The proposal challenges the current panoptic model of the detention centre and instead proposes a polycentric model that aims to depolarise by creating a network within the urban landscape.
47
0m
0m
Flagstaff Gardens
41
600m
m
400
MIT
y R Cit hs t Ba
ic n V ts e e e Qu ark M
The Argus 0m
36
0m
65
int
eM
Th
s ola g h c Ni ildin Bu
ood ingw Coll llege Co
0m
280
cents St Vin tal Hospi
IT
RM
1300m
St Patricks Cathedral
1400m
10 Sites within the Melbourne CBD have been chosen to create a network for the asylum seekers in the city. These have been chosen according to facilities needed and opportunites available to tab into.
RMIT - Education
The Melbourne Mint - Legal Services
The Melbourne Mint - Legal Services
St Patrick’s Cathedral - Prayer and Reflection
Flagstaff Garden - Leisure
Melbourne City Baths - Physical
Queen Vic Markets - Food
Collingwood College - Education
The Detention Centre - Reframed As an alternative to the singular model of the Detention Centre, this project proposes a three stage As an alternative to the singular model of the Detention Centre, this project process that allows the asylum seekers an easier transition into the Australian culture and society. proposes a three stage process that allows the asylum seekers an easier transition Asylum seekers are detained until their refugee status has been proven. into the Australian culture and society. Asylum seekers are detained until their Subsequently the refugees can access the city, getting to know their new environment enabling refugee status has been proven. Subsequently the refugees can access the interaction with the public (Transition 2).know Oncetheir thenew humanitarian has been granted, city, getting to environmentvisa enabling interaction withthe the now publicAustralian residents can move into society or stay longer getting support depending on their physical and (Transition 2).completely, Once the humanitarian visa has beenadditional granted, the now Australian residents can move into society completely, or stay longer getting additional mental health. support depending on their physical and mental health.
ARRIVAL IN AUSTRALIA ASYLUM SEEKERS REFUGEES
DETENTION UNTIL REFUGEE STATU S HAS BEEN DETERMINED PROGRAM: - INDIVIDUAL ROOMS - AND FAMILY - COMMUNAL LIVING AND KITCHEN - CLASSROOM - LEARNING ENGLISH ETC. - COMPUTERS ETC. ALLOWING ACCESS TO ‘HOME’ - COUNCELLING SESSIONS - ROOMS -RELIGIOUS/MEDITATIVE/ REFLECTIVE SPACES - OUTDOOR AREA - ALLOWING FOR SOCAL AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY -
TRANSITION PHASE 1 PROGRAM: - INDIVIDUAL ROOMS - AND FAMILY - COMMUNAL LIVING AND KITCHEN - CLASSROOM - LEARNING ENGLISH ETC. - COMPUTERS ETC. ALLOWING ACCESS TO ‘HOME’ - COUNCELLING SESSIONS - ROOMS - OUTDOOR AREA - ALLOWING FOR SOCAL AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - ACCESS TO THE CITY, EG.CHILDREN ARE ABLE TO GO TO SCHOOL
TRANSITION P
PROGRAM: - SHARED APARTM - COMMUNAL ARE - CLASSROOM - L ETC. - COMPUTERS ETC ACCESS TO ‘HO - COUNCELLING S - ACCESS TO THE
222 DAYS
TRANSITION INTO SOCIETY
SITION PHASE 2
AM: ED APARTMENTS MUNAL AREA - INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SROOM - LEARNING ENGLISH
UTERS ETC. ALLOWING SS TO ‘HOME’ CELLING SESSIONS - ROOMS SS TO THE CITY
PROGRAM: ACCESS TO COMMUNAL SPACES, COUNCELLING AND SUPPORT
Program Diagram
THE SITE
Located in Melbourne’s CBD ‘The Argus’ has been chosen as the main facility centre, providing a permanent point of reference for asylum seekers and generating space of confrontation with ‘the other’.
Th e Argus
T E E TR
C E B ’ A
S T T KE
E
LAN
ET TRE TH S ABE ELIZ
LA T
S E B RO
T E E TR