Humanitarian architecture is a design solution addressing the largest human movement and humanitarian needs in modern history. By the end of 2024, there will be over 122 million forcibly displaced people. It treats shelter, space, and infrastructure as fundamental rights and is guided by widely accepted humanitarian standards and measurable outcomes. This approach is crucial because extreme weather events and protracted crises, exacerbated by climate change, are transforming temporary camps into permanent settlements and necessitating designs that protect life, dignity, and future recovery.
Definition of Human Architecture
Humanitarian architecture involves planning and constructing buildings and settlements for people who are vulnerable due to reasons such as emergencies, displacement, or long-term recovery. This architecture, grounded in a rights-based framework, ensures that quality and accountability are non-negotiable by establishing minimum standards for water, shelter, health, and protection. This field prioritizes social value and well-being as legitimate project outcomes, rather than focusing solely on cost or image.
What does “human architecture” mean in today’s global context?
Today, designing in a state of constant emergency means helping hundreds of millions of people and assisting more than 122 million people who have been displaced by conflict and persecution. It also means working in regions at risk from climate change, where rising temperatures intensify certain extreme conditions, turning dangers into disasters. The significance of this situation stems from the scale and duration of many “temporary” interventions, which now often last for years and have a significant impact on health, education, and livelihoods.
Key factors: crisis, displacement, climate change, and inequality
Armed conflicts and the fragility of states are forcing people to flee, increasing the number of refugees and internally displaced persons. With climate warming, extreme heat, floods, and storms are becoming more frequent and severe, endangering fragile settlements and putting pressure on already limited services. Funding gaps and structural inequalities further increase the risk, so designs must prioritize justice as much as security.
What is the difference between human-centered design and traditional architecture?
Human-centered design begins with life-saving standards and human dignity, working toward recovery and self-sufficiency rather than focusing on customer brand or capital value. In chaotic environments, it combines rapid assessment, participation, and evidence using common criteria, such as those in the Sphere Handbook, to harmonize the efforts of many different organizations. Success is measured not by innovation or formal purity, but by protection, health, and social value over time.
The role of architects as agents of social impact and resilience
Architects transform spatial systems into ones that minimize exposure to human principles, provide services, and strengthen community networks. In shelters and settlements, their work immediately restores human dignity and reduces future risks by providing safer places, materials, and incremental improvements. The most effective practices combine ethics with measurement, ranging from Red Cross shelter programs to design firms that view design as a tool for justice.
Key Points: Why is it important right now?
Global trends: the scale of need and urgency
The scale of the crisis has surpassed the words we use to describe it. As of April 2025, at least 122 million people have been forcibly displaced, and as conflict zones multiply and prolong, 83.4 million people have been displaced within their own countries. In 2025, humanitarian aid plans required tens of billions of dollars to reach more than 180 million people, but funding fell short and priorities had to be reordered. The emergency is not just a state of mind, but a mathematical problem that worsens every month with the postponement of services.
Beyond buildings: health, community, dignity, and representation
The layout of shelters and settlements is a public health tool that reduces exposure risk, restores privacy, and rebuilds a sense of normalcy after a crisis. Overcrowding and inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities increase the likelihood of outbreaks, while excessive heat poses a heightened risk, particularly in areas lacking shade and ventilation. Good planning integrates services, social spaces, and security, giving communities the opportunity to make their voices heard rather than wait in line. Dignity is not a detail; it is a tool that makes recovery possible.
Ethical obligations in design for vulnerable population groups
Every decision is made within the framework of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence, and the Humanitarian Charter bases these principles on the right to live with dignity, receive aid, and be protected. Designs avoid exacerbating tensions, protect data, and prioritize protection in action, turning the “do no harm” principle from slogan to practice. Ethical innovation considers who will benefit, who will be affected, and who will make the decisions long before a prototype is presented to a camp. True ethics is logistical; it manifests itself in field plans, queues, lighting, and how information is shared.
Measuring impact: metrics, stories, and lessons learned
Standards provide a clear definition of quality, including 15-20 liters of water per person per day, safe distances, accessible services, and transparent complaint systems. According to the Core Humanitarian Standard, verification and post-distribution monitoring translate principles into concrete evidence and facilitate corrective action. However, it is the feedback from residents that determines not only whether aid has reached them, but also whether it has truly provided protection. Measurement is important because it guides improvement, and improvement shows how interventions have evolved in the face of ongoing crises.
Basic Principles and Strategies in Practice
Community participation and co-design
Participation is not just a workshop; it is power sharing. Frameworks such as PASSA and the Core Humanitarian Standard increase the power of ownership in risk mapping, priority setting, and design choices within communities. Formal feedback and complaint systems ensure that listening leads to accountable change during interventions. As a result, safer places, greater acceptance, and solutions that people contribute to and therefore sustain are achieved.
Resource-sensitive methods: materials, climate, culture
The first step in resource sensitivity is to reduce harm to people and places. The Sphere and UNHCR guidelines prioritize the use of local and familiar materials that are compatible with seasonal factors, cultural norms, and risk profiles. Environmental assessments also help limit depletion and waste. Clean energy strategies and packaging waste guidelines demonstrate that logistics can be redesigned to reduce environmental impact and improve health. Therefore, good shelter is created by bringing together climate-conscious components that a community can repair without incurring debt.
Adaptability: time, scale, and changing needs
Since the displacement process rarely ends as planned, the design process must shift from the emergency shelter provision phase to the phase of facilitating planned growth. The Master Plan Approach and temporary shelter guidelines determine phased expansion and improvement paths for plots, services, and structures as risks and livelihoods change. Evidence of self-healing shows that households are already rebuilding in phases, so programs yield the best results when they support this process rather than attempting to freeze it. Adaptive design accommodates new seasons, new numbers, and new rights.
Cross-sector collaboration: NGOs, governments, architects
Humanitarian architecture operates not in isolation but within a coordination framework. The Cluster Approach and the Global Shelter Cluster align institutions with government leadership, while the Humanitarian Program Cycle integrates assessment, planning, financing, and monitoring. The localization guide brings the decision-making process closer to local actors who carry out the response after the headlines have disappeared. Architects add value by transforming these structures into spatial designs that comply with standards and strengthen public systems.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Design for Social Good
Emerging technologies and innovative typologies
The focus of humanitarian aid design is shifting from reacting to anticipating. Prediction-based funding and preventive actions mean that aid is provided before the impact occurs, not after.
Satellite and open mapping transforms inaccessible terrain into readable, shareable plans for site selection, access, and security—from UNOSAT’s rapid damage assessments to community mapping marathons. Clean, reliable energy is no longer just an added benefit; mini-grids and large camp PV systems save millions of dollars while reducing risk at night.
As agencies develop artificial intelligence and messaging tools, digital services are maturing under stronger safeguards, with clear commitments to human rights and ethics. Meanwhile, typologies are evolving towards multi-purpose community centers that can be upgraded rather than replaced, and disability-friendly designs.
Scaling solutions: from pilot projects to systemic change.
Successful pilot programs can be scaled up if they have flexible financing, are integrated into coordination systems, and are led by individuals who view innovation not as a showcase but as an operational necessity. Sector strategies now facilitate the replication of these strategies, from the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) shelter roadmap to the multi-year plan of the Global Shelter Cluster, which brings together governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), and architects. Verification based on the updated Core Humanitarian Standard provides a common benchmark and enables quality improvements to spread across all agencies rather than remaining localized.
New risk financing, such as the Red Cross’s multi-hazard insurance, demonstrates that budgets can adapt more quickly to weather conditions and trigger pre-determined interventions in extreme seasons.
True scale also means localization. This brings decision-making and resource allocation processes closer to those responsible for intervention before and after headlines.
To provide education and training to the next generation of architects.
Education is shifting towards climate literacy, ethics, and field realism. This change can be seen in every area, from the Climate Center’s preventive action courses to Sphere’s free e-learning standards.
Programs such as University College London (UCL) Building Urban Design and Development (BUDD) and KU Leuven Human Settlements become studio-based when they place power, informality, and risk at the center of design.
The paths at the beginning of one’s career now include practice-based curricula such as the Challenging Practice program offered by ASF-UK, which combines participatory methods with accountability. The toolkits used to measure social value provide graduates with a language for outcomes that clients and cities can embrace.