Migrant labor is a fact of life in the rapid modernization that is transforming Doha, Qatar. As the country prepares to host the World Cup in 2022, the Qatar Foundation has implemented new national standards for migrants’ living quarters.
Recently, five interior design students lead by assistant professor Maja Kinnemark worked with Johan Terblans, manager of CORE construction, and the Research Centre at VCUQatar on a project called “System for Living.” This project is part of a larger design endeavor to improve the living conditions for low-income migrant workers in Qatar.
The junior students Teekshani Perera, Mark Bermejo, and senior students Dhika Khaira, Farah Zamri and Arwa Safri helped research and design sleeping quarters for the migrants’ camps, with the aim of establishing a sense of privacy and personal space in what is otherwise a shared environment.
Says Perera of the experience, “This project has been a great opportunity for us to learn about people from a different background. I know now that I would like to work with social design in the future.”
Image: Migrant worker housing prototype built by VCUQatar in 2012.
This article originally appeared in the VCUarts Studio Newsletter, spring 2016. To read more from this addition, or to browse other VCUarts publications, head over to the VCUarts website.
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