Aylin Gürel received her master’s degree from the AA, where she studied architectural theory and history. Her current research is on migration and displacement in relation to the built environment, visible in forms of cultural growth of societies, collective labor and art. Currently working as a visiting researcher for the UNESCO Chair on International Migration, her research examines histories and contemporary conditions of human movement as means for cultural processes and political expression.

Ömer Selvi is a city and transport planner. He completed his masters and doctorate at IYTE Department of City and Regional Planning and worked as a post-doc researcher for the EU Commission in Italy. He is a cofounder of the Kapılar project, a solidarity project that emerged in Izmir when the number of refugees reached its peak. He currently provides consultancy services for city and transport planning research and application projects.

Ege Mehmet Akman (co-ordinator) received his bachelors degree from Bogaziçi University's Department of Sociology and his masters degree from Sabanci University in Cultural Studies. His thesis concerned the politics of memory and the potentials of recent local counter-memory works on the discursive and spatial reconstruction of the cityscape through the memorialisation of the Great Fire of Smyrna and Izmir in 1922. He currently works as a research assistant at Istanbul Bilgi University's Department of Sociology.

Hosna Eqbal (co-ordinator)is an interdisciplinary artist based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia, whose work explores the reciprocal relationship between art, architecture and the human spirit. She holds a masters in Architecture from the University of Melbourne and an Honours degree in Interior Architecture from Monash University. Self-reflexivity is central to her practice, woven through projects that bridge personal and collective memory. Her work investigates how comparisons with history, cultural traditions and the relationship between artisanal and architectural excellence should come into contact with intense emotional and poetic emotion on both large and small scales.

Jana Ahmad (co-ordinator) is a Syrian architect living in Izmir, currently pursuing her masters in Urban Regeneration. Her thesis explores climate change adaptation tools within historic cities, focusing on the multi-layered cultural landscape of the Bergama UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prior to her masters, she participated in interdisciplinary projects on historic urban fabric and post-war reconstruction in Syrian cities. Jana is interested in storytelling as a medium to explore urbanism and heritage.

• Field experience observing self-made spaces of migrants
• Understanding contemporary methodologies to house emigrants
• Finding cultural elements embedded in the social and built environment
• Theoretical lectures on spatial reflections of displacement
• Effects of significant events in Mediterranean migration such as the Greek population exchange of 1923
• Observing traces of traditional Greek architecture present in current migrant neighborhoods
• Visiting preserved structures of Sephardic Jewish architectural heritage
• Social acquaintance with inhabitants of areas occupied by displaced people
• Visiting roman ruins of the Agora of Smyrna
• Visiting solidarity spaces, informal community spaces and an art collective
• Archival findings
• Production and projection of migration films and video documentation
• Experimentation with various recording methods and mapping techniques

A non-refundable £60 deposit is required from all applicants upon application and will be deducted from the total fees below:
 

• £595 – Standard Programme Fee (including a one year AA Digital Membership worth £60)
• £475 – AA Member Fee
• £428 – AA Full-time Student and AA Staff Fee
• £515 – Fee for Full-time students of Melbourne University (including a one year AA Digital Membership worth £60)
• £250 – A limited number of scholarships are available for participants for whom the programme fee may present a significant financial barrier. These bursaries are intended to support applicants from economically disadvantaged contexts and geographies, including those for whom international tuition fees represent a substantial expense.

Fees do not include flights or accommodation, but accommodation options can be advised. Limited spots for accommodation are available for participants at £240. For more information, please contact latitudes@aaschool.ac.uk.

A laptop is recommended for use during selected activities throughout the programme. Participants may bring any preferred materials for documentation, sketching or other media.