ABSTRACT
This article main approach is the dramatic scourge of the refugee crisis that currently takes place in Europe. Thus, based on a theme so comprehensive that covers various contexts and realities, it is established as a priority an approach to understanding the role of architecture and its relationship with war and urgent response in these situations of crisis.
From the study of the significant influx of immigrants that has affected France, particularly its northern cities, where thousands of refugees have been settling to illegally enter the United Kingdom, the city of Calais is elected as a privileged focus of study. Calais was the scene of one of Europe’s largest and most troubled refugee camps: the well-known Calais Jungle, which, with its closure in 2016, threw thousands of people into the streets of the city, in a context of great fragility, in search of support and welcome.
In this scenario, there is an aspect that stands out, which is the number of unaccompanied children. This is an aspect that highlights the vulnerability of this population, which has all the attention and response of research within the scope of this project, to find an immediate response so that its reception is a priority. In this way, integrating this population and especially this more fragile and vulnerable layer in a European context, and especially in a city like Calais, characterised by a strongly structured and consolidated community, was the central theme of this research project and architectural approach.
