Temporary Living in Permanent Educational Spaces – The Shared Right to Space

Due to the war, Ukraine currently counts 3.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), of whom around 20,000 are without shelter. Since 2024, War Law 4080-IX has allowed schools that have been vacant for at least one year to be used as temporary accommodation. This project builds on this legal framework and proposes an amendment to Article IV, Paragraph 61, enabling active schools—such as the case study —to be used for the temporary housing of IDPs. This school type represents a repetitive typology across Ukraine. Based on the idea of understanding vacancy not spatially but timerelated, the project combines organizational and architectural interventions. A flexible, magnetic timetable regulates the shared use of spaces for both - the school community and IDPs. Complementary programs structure daily life without disrupting regular school operations.

The central element of the architectural interventions is the ramp structure in the yard. The ramp provides barrier-free access to all floors and creates additional spaces for social gatherings on multiple levels. The gymnasium becomes the sleeping hall, while physical education is relocated to the courtyard. Through the amendment of the law, temporary housing is enabled in the short term, while the school benefits from it in the long term.