ABOUT

CARRRE was formed following the February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, the deadliest natural disaster in Turkey’s modern history. Initially, as a collective of U.S.-based architects and academics with deep ties to Turkey who were driven to address the extensive damage across eleven provinces in Turkey (roughly the distance from New York to Montreal). The lives of 14 million people in Turkey (16% of its population) and 11 million people in Syria (nearly half its population) were affected, hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged, millions were left homeless, 110,000 were injured, and the estimated death toll was over 60,000 people. 

In response to this devastation, CARRRE’s goals were two-fold: to amplify awareness among a global audience about the effects of physical disasters and to advance knowledge around multidisciplinary, innovative rebuilding and recovery efforts to create sustainable, culturally relevant, and resilient environments.

As part of this effort, CARRRE member firm, ACHA, and a CARRRE collaborator in Istanbul, Turkey, Urban.Koop, will design and curate an exhibition at the Center for Architecture in NYC (AIANY) about grassroots initiatives and resiliency following the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey. Scheduled to run for five months in 2027, graphic design will be provided by another CARRRE member, Eken Design.

Foremost in our goals is to show the work of the communities who are innovating and collaborating on the ground, who collectively build resiliency in their efforts to heal, develop work, retain memories, preserve cultural heritage, restore the craft and arts of the region, and reinvent the physical and intangible spaces that were lost and that sustain these communities.

This website is designed to illustrate the work of these communities as examples for others to follow, and also to share approaches to challenges that occur after environmental devastation. The challenges that are faced both in the early stages following such a disaster (such as access to water, food, sanitation, and information) as well as ongoing challenges, such as the prolongation of temporary housing crises, economic struggles caused by job losses, the absence of social and psychosocial support mechanisms, the lack of public spaces to gather and network, and uncertainty in long-term reconstruction efforts. Also shared here are the resources and talents of internationally-based architects, planners, engineers, and experts in collaborations with professionals, businesses, civic initiatives, and municipalities.

We visit groups who are working internationally as well as in Turkey to try to support and bring awareness to their work, present at conferences, seminars, universities, and workshops around resiliency, promote the research and publications of experts, and contribute designs for collaboration and rebuilding in disaster-affected areas. In particular, we look to humanitarian efforts that rely on multidisciplinary, mutual aid at the grassroots level. We believe this approach is essential to preserving the culture and identity of a place and its people. Through ongoing contributions, our members hope to build awareness and give architects, planners, and engineers more agency for future projects, provide resources in ongoing efforts, and improve lives through design.

Among other efforts, in the year following the 2023 earthquakes, CARRRE curated Turkey and Syria After the Earthquakes, a series of five international panel discussions among thirty global experts which serves to provide a platform for learning, debate, and actionable projects. These panels were conducted in partnership with the American Institute of Architects NY (AIANY) and the cultural institute Salt (Istanbul). Each of these full-length panels as well as the individual presentations by the experts can be found on this website.