The project seeks a new method to help reunify fractured communities that have been both displaced and dispossessed due to conflict and political motives. This is a global issue, but we have focused on Cyprus as it is an overt physical manifestation of a country which has been divided into two and one where a buffer zone created between them. This was intended as a temporary measure to stop infighting between its two communities however has been in place for over 50 years. Over time the walls that were put up provided sovereignty to each nation which in turn perpetuated the division. However, bringing people into the buffer zone, a liminal space with neutral equity will soften these walls.

The climate crisis is another global issue that we hope to address with this project. Cyprus is the most drought-stricken country in Europe and as such is facing a rapid loss of its native epidemiology. This provides the basis for architectural interventions to host collaborative and innovative solutions toward this common goal.

Our method for reunification sought to address the problem indirectly, away from the typic approach of community centres by instead focusing on connection through fixing a common issue. The project intertwines a narrative process of education, social interactions, conversation, and connection with the future sustainability of the country. By combining these two problems the project interrogates how architectural interventions can address these issues with a mixed-use typology, capable of attenuating and filtering large amounts of seasonal rainwater, which will both feed back into the stressed groundwater supply and be retained for building use including lab and workshop facilities. In doing so, water becomes an agent for future innovations that tackle the long-lasting effects of water shortage.

Reunification is addressed indirectly as the subtext for a grander problem, through a new architectural typology that offers participatory workshops that address a common goal. The project is a pilot phase prior to expanding along the buffer zone where the framework is applied to more specific community regions that are directly affected by water shortages. Climate change affects everyone globally; how can this methodology be applied to divided communities elsewhere?

Thesis Tutors

Ronny Ford

Thesis VP

Peter Farall

Thesis Critcs

Dr Juliana Yat Shun Kei
Jack Dunne
Ian Ritchie
Michael Cunniff
Brian Hatton

Special Mentions

Massive thank you to my family and close friends who cheered from home, thousands of miles away, and my tutor, who pushes me forward each week with constructive criticism.