Architecture, Memory, and Post-Conflict Recovery
Seminar
Architectural Perspectives on Resilience and Mental Health in Syria
Event date
Wednesday 15 July 2026, 10am to 1pm
Location
In-person only
Piazza Building, Campus East, University of York (Map)
Piazza Building, Campus East, University of York (Map)
Admission
Free admission, booking required
Event details
This seminar explores how the destruction and reconstruction of Aleppo’s informal settlements can be understood through the interconnected themes of architecture, displacement, memory, and mental health. It considers how the loss of home, neighbourhood, and familiar spatial environments affects identity, collective memory, and psychosocial wellbeing, and examines how participatory and memory-informed approaches to reconstruction may contribute to resilience, recovery, and community wellbeing.
Schedule for the day
9:30am to 10am
- Registration
10am to 10.15am
- Introduction: Architecture & Trauma in Post-conflict Middle East - Professor Gamal Abdelmonem (FDoR), YSA
10.15am to 10.45am
- Reconstructing Aleppo’s Post Conflict Neighbourhoods: Architecture and community - Dr Asser Al Hamoud, PhD
10.45am to 11.15am
- Voices from Aleppo - Professor Bassel Sharrak, University of Sheffield
11.15am to 11.30am
- Q&A
11.30am to 12 noon
- Coffee break
12 noon to 1pm
- Roundtable: Architecture, Trauma, and Post-Conflict Recovery in Syria