Architecture, Memory, and Post-Conflict Recovery: Architectural Perspectives on Resilience and Mental Health in Syria Seminar

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Posted on Friday 11 September 2026

York School of Architecture hosted this fascinating interdisciplinary seminar earlier this year.

Earlier this year, York School of Architecture hosted a fascinating interdisciplinary seminar exploring how architecture, displacement, memory, and mental health intersect in the destruction and reconstruction of Aleppo’s and Mosul’s informal settlements, and how participatory and memory-informed approaches can contribute to resilience, recovery, and community wellbeing.

Co-organised in collaboration with the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH) and the Institute of Mental Health Research at York (IMRY), the seminar examined the relationship between architecture, memory, displacement, and mental health in the context of post-conflict recovery in Syria and Iraq, with a particular focus on Aleppo and Mosul and their community experiences.

The seminar featured a distinguished panel, including Dr Asser Al Hamoud, PhD (University of Kassel, Visiting Scholar, YSA), Professor Bassel Sharrak (Consultant Neurologist, University of Sheffield), Dr Rawaa Qasha, (Department of Computer Sciences, University of Mosul) and Professor Gamal Abdelmonem (Founding Director of Research, York School of Architecture).

This seminar brought together interdisciplinary perspectives from architecture, heritage, migration, urbanism, philosophy, and health, opening a wider discussion on the social and human dimensions of rebuilding in post-conflict contexts.