A coalition of architects, engineers, urban planners, and academics have announced a public program focused on reconstruction in Turkey and Syria following the series of 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that decimated the region this past February. In the aftermath of the earthquakes, it’s estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 people were killed; and close to 160,000 buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged in population centers ranging from Kahramanmaras, Adiyaman, and Hatay.

Turkey and Syria after the Earthquakes: Emergency Responses will directly respond to the question of how to rebuild. It takes place on two separate days, July 22 and July 29, at the Center for Architecture in New York and Salt Beyoğlu in Istanbul. Organized by AIA New York’s Center for Architecture and Collective Action for Readiness, Recovery, and Resilience (CARRRE), a “collective of US-based Turkish-American architects and academics,” the program’s goal is “to amplify awareness among a global audience regarding the catastrophic repercussions of these earthquakes, and to provide agency to architects, planners, engineers, municipalities, and builders on the ground by assisting with local relief efforts, sharing professional expertise, and aiding in the development of long-term rebuilding strategies.”

Key topics participants will cover include emergency housing, temporary shelter, shelter sites, infrastructure restoration, unexpected challenges in relief efforts, and lessons learned about disaster relief with international examples as case studies. Celal Abdi Güzer, faculty member from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara will moderate lectures by Hitoshi Abe, UCLA professor and director of xLAB Research Center; Illya Azaroff, associate professor of architecture at New York City College of Technology, CUNY; Ersin Gök, founding member of Yuva Project; and Esin Pektas, who is major capital projects program director at the Port Authority.

Turkey and Syria after the Earthquakes: Emergency Responses is hosted by AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee; AIANY Global Dialogues Committee; and AIANY Building Codes Committee. The public program is free of charge, but organizers strongly encourage attendees to donate to Turkish Philanthropy Funds “in support of the planning and rebuilding efforts.”

More information about the event can be found here. CARRRE, Salt, and the AIA are planning another series of discussions centering on the reconstruction in Turkey and Syria for September.