



Dyeing Berm
Third Place in Concept Competition - BORDERS: Transforming Forgotten Lines Collaborator: Du Yang, Wu Jinze November 2020 - December 2020
What do people think of when they talk about borders? Under normal circumstances, the existence of boundaries means a set of contradictions. From history to the present, the border in Western Sahara has been the intersection of human rights, race, conflict and war, cultural and economic differences. While it is regarded as a dangerous place with the refugee problems by people, it also implies the possibilities and opportunities brought by border flows, which includes the economic development and culture exchange with berm.
From the perspective of architecture and society, the international border has become a forgotten area. There area also high crime rates and extremely serious social problems. We discovered that the Moroccan controlled area has rich arched architectural features and the existence of a dyeing economy, while the Polisario controlled area pursues a free and democratic multi-ethnic social atmosphere. Transform the crossing border into a place that unites and promotes cultural djiversity and creating a friendly atmosphere for the encounter of two nations become possible this time, as well as creating immigrants job opportunities. Therefore, we decide to use elements of Morocco and Polisario to redesign Western Sahara Berm and the hundreds of military sites on it, which is the border between Morrocco and Polisario.