An Attempt to Set A design Base for post-conflict housing in the historic core of Homs, Syria

Sammanfattning: The built environment in the old city of Homs has been brutally destroyed by the conflict in Syria. The research gap in post-conflict planning and architectural design in the old city of Homs is alarming as it indicates that there are no clear roadmaps on how to deal with post-conflict housing units in such a historic area. This study aims to investigate the possible design basis of housing typologies and plans for the housing units in the old city after the conflict. This study is primarily based on a literature review and extensive discussions with a specialist architect from the city of Homs, who helped to gain a deeper understanding of how to approach such a topic. The literature review deals with the historical Arab cities’ components and the elements of courtyard houses both in general and in the old city of Homs in particular. Likewise, it looks at the city’s urban plans and building code and their shortcomings and highlights the current conditions there. It also highlights proposed strategies for post-conflict construction and discusses them. The findings of the study propose a design ideology for reconstruction strategies and translate these ideologies and findings from the literature into a practical design of typologies placed on a proposed plot of land in the old city, along with a proposal of what the plans of these houses might look like.