EVERYDAY PRACTICES AND LIVED SPACES OF REFUGEE CHILDREN ON YOUTUBE

Abstract

What can be learned from YouTube as an archival platform about the role of architecture in the lives of refugee children? The chapter outlines an analysis of videos from diverse YouTube channels concentrating on the everyday practices and lived spaces of refugee children in camps and cities, or on the road, in countries other than their homeland. Carried out with videos commissioned by intergovernmental organizations, news channels and not-for-profit organizations between 2014 and 2019, the study uses filmmaking to understand and analyze the architectural and urban needs and challenges of young refugee populations in different parts of the world. By proposing audio-visual recording as a media dispositif, referring to Michel Foucault, to disseminate the refugees’ public and private spaces in their new environment, and their stories that take place in these spaces, it aims to be a step in defining some of the misconceptions around these young members of the society, breaking down some of the barriers and, in the long run, a step towards dialogue and celebration of diversity. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.