REPURPOSED EXPOSITION PAVILION

JARAHIEH SCHOOL FOR REFUGEES
El-Marj, Lebanon
2017

CatalyticAction, with ARUP International

Piggybacking Tactic
Capture a Waste Stream

THE JARAHIEH SCHOOL FOR REFUGEES is an example of waste-stream piggybacking that crosses continents and cultures to capture the architectural by-products from an international exposition. The Milan Expo of 2015 consisted of 70 temporary pavilions that amounted to an expenditure of 13 billion euros. Intent on putting this massive, short-term investment to longer-term use, Save the Children Italy made a commitment to the architectural reuse of its own expo pavilion in support of its larger philanthropic mission. The organization connected with the London-based charitable design practice CatalyticAction to plan for and implement the pavilion’s afterlife as a semipermanent school for Syrian refugees in the Jarahieh Informal Tented Settlement of El-Marj, Lebanon. To do this, CatalyticAction adapted the pavilion’s modular design, reconfiguring its six independent frame structures to support the needs of both the school and the larger community of the settlement, with the new configuration forming an outdoor courtyard for education and play. The structure was assembled, insulated, and clad by residents of the settlement working alongside the design team from CatalyticAction, who tapped into local skill sets and material knowledge as the basis of an inherently participatory process. The end result is a multipurpose school and community center that leveraged underutilized international resources along with local skills and materials to improve quality of life in the Jarahieh settlement.