Photo: Photo Courtesy of the GDIRC.
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — When you think of humanitarian aid in the Middle East, you may not think it's child's play.
Architects in the Greater Boston area are teamed up to bring a moment of peace and joy to children and parents living amid warzones and climate upheaval. In 2016, the Global Design Initiative for Refugee Children (GDIRC) was born in response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and since then, they have designed playsets in places like Lebanon, Greece, Uganda, and at the Mexican border.
Nathalie Beauvais is the Resiliency Lead of Architecture & Planning at HDR, she pitched the idea of the GDIRC to the Boston Society for Architecture— a non-profit made up of members of the architecture community. The BSA often takes on projects to improve the quality of life in Boston and beyond. The challenge the GDIRC faced is that refugee children can be displaced in an instant, for example, playgrounds like one built in Lebanon had to be moved quick.
A playground built for Syrian refugees in Bar Elias, Lebanon.Photo: Photo Courtesy of the GDIRC.
"Just imagine your day, like a twelve-hour day, with a five-year-old that has nothing to do— they're burning themselves, they get electrocuted, because there's nothing to do," Beauvais said.
One of their latest projects, Portable Play, is on display at the Time Space Existence exhibit in Venice, Italy. The idea behind the playgrounds is that they are constructed on site with non-governmental organizations (to save costs) and can be torn down to flow with the tide of migration.
Photo: Photo Courtesy of the GDIRC.
Not long after the GDIRC's initiation, the BSA asked for a local version of the playgrounds to be installed in Boston. Like most of their projects, the finished product took heavy inspiration from the kids and neighbors who would use the park— now known as Unity Park in Dorchester.
Photo: Photo Courtesy of the GDIRC.
"They said 'you know, we represent a really big group of families, and we want a place for the grandmothers to sit— that came directly from them," said Patricia Seitz, an architect, Professor and Chair of Architecture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). Seitz was in favor of the GDIRC's creation the moment Beauvais pitched it.
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Funds to build the park came from the Community Perseveration Act, in fact their funding comes entirely from grants and donations.
"We have no money usually, but a lot of good will," Beauvais said.
The GDIRC sets up a back and forth with the recipient NGOs after vetting them, among the many topics of discussion are affordable and feasibility. Materials used in the projects can vary in price depending on the site.
"We build playgrounds and social spaces all over the world for kids who are either in trauma because of war, because of climate, in migration. We're interviewing the people there on what they want for their community," Seitz said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jay Willett reports.