Zaha Hadid Architects Create Innovative Tents for Displaced Communities

Photography by Luke Hayes

 

The Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, in partnership with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and its human and social legacy programme, Generation Amazing Foundation, have announced that 27 tents designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) will be donated to the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and the Qatar Red Crescent. This donation is part of Qatar's efforts to ensure that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM has a lasting impact beyond the tournament. The announcement was made at a ZHA-EAA tent inside the FIFA Fan festival in Doha.

The ZHA-EAA tents have already been put to good use as schools for hundreds of displaced Pakistani and Syrian children in Pakistan and Turkey respectively. The newly donated structures will now be utilized as schools, clinics, and temporary shelters for displaced communities in Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. 15 tents will be given to IOM, out of which 10 will be used as schools and 5 as health clinics in Turkey and Yemen. In Syria, Qatar Red Crescent will receive 12 structures that will serve as shelters for displaced communities in the country.

The ZHA-EAA tents are a revolutionary solution for providing shelter for displaced populations. These modular structures are designed to be easily moved and reassembled and incorporate components that can be upcycled or recycled for sustainability. They allow for natural daylight and are weather-proof, making them ideal for providing temporary housing, classrooms, and medical centres for displaced children and their families.

With over 70 million people displaced in their own countries or living as refugees, and half of them being under the age of 18, the need for suitable infrastructure is critical. Recognizing this, the EAA Foundation partnered with Zaha Hadid Architects to create a structure that offers safe, versatile, and sustainable spaces for children to play, learn, and develop.

During the FIFA World Cup, the ZHA-EAA tent housing the EAA's 'Scoring 4 the Goals' campaign was visited by football fans. The campaign included art and immersive video exhibits, discussions, games, and activities that helped raise awareness about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

EAA Chairperson, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, spoke of the potential of such an initiative during the campaign closing ceremony, saying that although placing a tent in a displaced community might seem like a small thing, "every one of the UN goals is interconnected: health, education, eradicating poverty... They are all part of ensuring a sustainable planet."

Eng. Yasir Al Jamal, Director General, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, said: “These vital structures will showcase the legacy of the first FIFA World Cup in our region. From day one, our goal has been to deliver a tournament that would benefit Qatar, the region and the world.

 “This project highlights the power of the World Cup by helping vulnerable communities long after the final whistle and complements our already successful Generation Amazing Foundation, a football for development legacy initiative which has provided safe spaces and reconstructed football pitches for communities in need globally, positively impacting the lives of more than 1 million people over the past 10 years. We are proud that Generation Amazing will continue to inspire and serve communities through football well into the future.”

Education Above All’s CEO, Fahad Al Sulaiti, said: “Each and every one of us has a role to play to ensure that we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. At EAA, we are committed to doing our part to achieving SDG 4, and by donating these tents, we are acting now to help countless children in Yemen, Turkey and Syria to have access to quality and accessible education.”

According to Gerry Cruz, Project Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects, the company has found a partner in Education Above All who shares their passion for investing in innovative design for the benefit of disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. Together, they created a durable, cost-effective, and lightweight modular architectural system with a fabric envelope that can be adapted to suit the needs of displaced children and children on the move. The goal is for these newly donated tents to provide safety, learning, and play opportunities for thousands of children in Yemen, Syria, and Turkey.