47 - Design for displacement with Laurence Wood

The Scottish Housing News Podcast

Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black step outside the Scottish social housing bubble to consider the impact of housing design in the aftermath of a disaster.

Earlier this year, architect and University of Dundee lecturer Laurence Wood took a group of Year 5 Architecture students to Turkey, which had just suffered from a terrible earthquake, to live in rural camps and experience the challenges of displaced people.

Drawing on his experience of developing transitional housing in the Philippines and rebuilding New Orleans and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, Laurance has been slowly developing research that brings local people and local materials to the forefront of post-disaster reconstruction.

As Scotland grapples with its own housing challenges, are there lessons to be learned about this expeditious approach?

This episode was recorded in Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce’s podcast studio on Dundee’s waterfront.

Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode here:

https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/blacks-blog-can-post-disaster-reconstruction-inform-scotlands-own-housing-emergency

Further reading:

• They Live in the Dark’: Older people’s isolation and inadequate access to housing amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/7385/2023/en/

To get in touch with Laurence, email [email protected].

Kieran Findlay is the editor of Scottish Housing News. Jimmy Black is a former Dundee housing convener and housing justice campaigner.

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