The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has retitled its Steel Design student competition to Humanitarian Refugee Center. We understand that the word detention carries negative connotations, and we do not wish to detract from the importance of this subject. The competition program challenges architecture students to create a more humanitarian design of a center for the asylum-seeker or immigrant by emphasizing family and community rather than isolation. We believe that architects need to be part of discussions addressing humanitarian crises.
The ethical issues involved with bureaucratic building types are complex. The program resources cite a range of transitional or liminal spaces for students to study and encourages them to explore the work of the Detention Watch Network, a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system.