SPAH Seminar Series Week 7: Dr Ammar Azzouz

Part of the SPAH Seminar Series, Ammar Azzouz gives a talk on 'Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home'

The city of Homs, like so many places in Syria, has suffered mass destruction since the war began in 2011. So far, the architectural response to the crisis has focused on 'cultural heritage', ancient architecture, and the external displacement of refugees, often neglecting the everyday lives of Syrians and the buildings that make up their homes and communities. In Domicide, Ammar uses the notion of the 'home' to address the destruction in cities like Homs, the displacement of Syrian people both externally and internally, and to explore how cities can be rebuilt without causing further damage to the communities that live there.

About the speaker:
Ammar Azzouz is a London-based architect and writer. He is a Lecturer in Heritage Studies at the University of Essex and a Research Associate at the University of Oxford. Before joining Essex, Ammar worked outside academia at Arup between 2017 and 2022. Ammar holds a PhD in Architecture at the University of Bath. His book Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2023.

If you cannot attend in person, please email spahpg@essex.ac.uk for the Zoom link.

Image source: A boy crossing a divided street, 2018 - Zaher Abdelmawla