"I'm trying to tackle a problem. It's a way to create a sense of belonging, remove that sense of alienation and use their skills."
The meeting house, part of Myint San Aung's proposed plan Photo: Myint San Aung
Auckland based architecture graduate Myint San Aung, is the winner of the prestigious Resene Student Design Awards in December last year. He spoke to RNZ's Voices, from Munich where he’s on tour, learning about European Architecture.
His winning idea though, was solidly rooted in community design- a refugee housing project, which he called Pyit-Taing-Htaung, after a local Burmese toy.
"It's a toy that once you toss it stands back up. To me it represents the people of Myanmar and how they have been with this military junta. And it refers to refugees as well."
In 1988, pro-democracy protests across what was then called Burma were violently crushed by the military who then seized power. San’s parents decided to flee to the relative safety of a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, where he was born.
San's idea is based on memories of this own experience and his parents raising their family in makeshift homes in the camp.
Houses being made in the 90s at the site of the refugee settlement on the Thai-Burma border Photo: Myint San Aung
"I'm trying to tackle a problem. It's a way to create a sense of belonging, remove that sense of alienation and use their skills."
Myint San Aung (lower, L) and his family in the camp Photo: Myint San Aung
In his proposed idea, residents in the sites using their own skillsets of working with local material, in this case bamboo, and creating a sense of ownership through local traditional or indigenous design, complete with meeting houses, schools, small bazaars and even spaces in between houses to raise animals.
The village pavillion, part of the design for the proposed site by Myint Aung San Photo: Myint San Aung
These days, news of Myint San Aung's win has travelled so far that students of architecture in Myanmar have been getting in touch.
"Students of architecture there are inspired by it. For the past year, there's been no university, the coup situation has gone worse. They're interested in more refugee-based projects like this", says San.
