RECONSTRUCTING THE POSTWAR URBAN FABRIC IN MOSUL

Name

Shwan Soran Ali

Education degree

Master

Subject area

Architecture

Study programme

Urbanism & Societal Change

Year

2023

Awards

Bevica

This project proposes a postwar reconstruction plan for the city of Mosul, which is the third largest city in northern Iraq that was occupied by Isis from 2014 to 2017. The project seeks to explore the ruins of Mosul to see if more dignified temporary housing can be created for the displaced residents by assembling locally sourced materials in a modular way to encapsulate the voids in the facades.

The situation in Mosul remains challenging, with approximately 100,000 individuals displaced six years after its recapture from ISIS. The city's ruins and lack of resources have forced many inhabitants into a state of perpetual temporariness, residing in refugee camps located 60-80 km outside the city. Unfortunately, prospects for long-term habitation appear bleak, as government support is absent, leaving international organizations as the primary funding source.

Despite the devastation, commercial activities persist within the destroyed areas. Residents of the refugee camps engage in a daily commute, transporting their goods to the city in the early morning and dismantling their stalls before nightfall, before returning to the camps.

Considering the absence of government support and the prolonged state of ruin, the challenge lies in formulating a plan for the city's recovery. This project endeavors to explore a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach, encompassing the holistic well-being of Mosul's residents as they strive to overcome the profound trauma experienced. Anchored in visions, aspirations, and symbolic actions, this project aims to foster the recovery and rejuvenation of the city and its inhabitants.

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Mosul means “the link” in Arabic. the city have been a bridge between south and north and east and west.

Timeline

The old city of Mosul after the war was the most affected area. Image: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images

Around 100,000 inhabitants still live in camps outside the city.

People living in camps commute into the city everyday as most work is still in the city. Image: Katarzyna Rybarczyk

Commercial activities still exist in the old city despite being in ruins. Image: Ali Al-Baroodi

Research question

Can ruins be seen as structures of possibility where the inhabitants of Mosul can regain a sense of agency and dignity?

Can ruins be renovated by assembling locally sourced materials in a modular way to encapsulate the voids in the facades.

Building manual

Can there be created more dignified shelters for displaced inhabitants using an assemble guide with locally sourced salvaged materials in a modular way?

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Excerpts of experiments with materials made from what was available in the dumpster or recycling room.

Vision

Can rehabiliation look like a collective endeavor and loop of responses that are constantly influx adapting to avaliable material and information?

Can the city rebuild itself?

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Extent of damage.

Zoom in - the most destroyed area in Mosul.

Categories to define the extent of damage.

Strategy - Six steps

A comprehensive strategy has been devised for the Al Maidan area, a highly devastated neighborhood within the old town consisting of ten neighborhoods. The decision to prioritize this area is due to its advantageous location by the water, abundance of cultural sites, and historical significance as a former hub of commercial activities. By focusing on the revitalization of Al Maidan, the strategy aims to address the area's unique potential for restoration and redevelopment.

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Urban analysis of Al Maidan area.

Larger locations to place construction waste locally and have it recycled on a smaller scale.

Location of water tanks in relation to buildings that are standing or moderately damaged.

Location of several smaller recycling centers as existing ones are 90 km away from the city center.

Inhabitants move into buildings that are least damaged while commercial activities are re-established on ground floors.

Area where social activities can take place and find or abandoned materials that can be reused for the ruins.

Streetscape around cultural institutions will be prioritized first in the renovation.

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View of Mosul old city after the war.

Visualization of outdoor space with shelter and water cooling elements.

Visualization of outdoor space with shelter and cooling water elements and water tanks.

As the mosque is rebuilt, some of its functions can be moved outside and become a new social hub.

The social hub must also be able to function at night, as it provides security.

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Inspired by Christo. Building being covered with textile to avoid being hit by construction waste.

Buildings partially clad in textile but the ground floor still functions commercially.

Scaffolding modules for buildings that are partially destroyed but still have the quality to be used in certain areas.

Curtains to define spaces, this can be a gradual build as residents can afford to clad the building with more solid materials.

Interior view of how buildings in this category are imagined to be inhabited. Inspired by Shigeru Ban's modular system,

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In areas affected by war or natural disasters, people live in ruins until it is rebuilt.

A vision of how the new urban fabric could look. With active commercial on the ground floor

Vision of what buildings can look like with locally sourced materials.

A vision of what street life could look like, the building can be rebuilt gradually as residents can afford more solid materials

Vision for a new urban fabric in Mosul

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Vision for how a new urban fabric can look in Mosul.

Space in front of the mosque, where the functions have been moved to a platform while it is being renovated.

Streetscape with material bank in the background.

Drawing of what the streetscape could look like with the different initiatives combined.

4 Images

Legat

Bevica

I motivationen lyder det bl.a.: "This project proposes a vision and strategy for rebuilding and reinhabiting the war-torn city of Mosul, Iraq, which suffered heavy destruction at the hands of ISIS. ... Dealing with ... massive amounts of rubble and water scarcity, the proposal offers residents a catalogue of ideas of how the ruins can be reinhabited based on reusing rubble and resources available at hand. The project envisions a reconstruction strategy, which does not rely on heavy support from foreign aid, state imbursements or corporate investment. It offers an alternative where both material and social resources are central - a practical application of circularity on a scale of the city. It serves as an alternative playbook for other places in the world facing similar challenges now, and even more so in the future."

The Royal Danish Academy supports the Sustainable Development Goals

Since 2017 the Royal Danish Academy has worked with the Sustainable Development Goals. This is reflected in our research, our teaching and in our students’ projects. This project relates to the following UN goal(-s):

Clean water and sanitation (6)

Sustainable cities and communities (11)

Climate action (13)

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RECONSTRUCTING THE POSTWAR URBAN FABRIC IN MOSUL

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