WHAT YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO
The Library
Architecture for Return is a decision library. Each entry is a reconstruction guidance kit: a self-contained, usable document addressed to a household or local builder returning to a damaged or destroyed site. The library is public, filterable, and free. Contributors are credited. The knowledge belongs to no one and to everyone.
The library is built by contribution. This is the open call.
The border towns and villages of south Lebanon have been and are being systematically destroyed. The people who lived there are preparing to return. When they do, they will build, with whatever knowledge, resources, and guidance they can access.
Architecture for Return exists to change what is available to them at that moment.
This is the first open call.
The open call
What we are asking for
A reconstruction guidance kit: a self-contained, usable body of knowledge addressed to a household or local builder returning to a damaged or destroyed site in south Lebanon.
A kit can take many forms. A spatial typology. A construction process. A material system. A phasing strategy. A structural approach. A combination of these. The form is the contributor's decision. What is not negotiable is that the kit is honest, complete within its own scope, and genuinely usable by the person it is intended for.
The submission framework (available to download below) defines the minimum conditions every kit must meet. Read it before you begin.
Why now
Reconstruction in south Lebanon has not yet begun in any organized way. Many areas remain inaccessible. Destruction is ongoing. But the window between now and the moment people begin building in large numbers is closing.
The decisions households make when they first return (about foundations, materials, spatial arrangements, construction sequences) are decisions they will live with for a generation. They will make those decisions regardless of whether adequate guidance exists. The purpose of this library is to ensure that it does.
This call is urgent because the situation is urgent. The kits submitted in response to it will not sit in an archive. They will be used.
Terms of participation
Submission is free and open to all.
Contributors retain authorship of their work. Architecture for Return does not claim ownership of submitted kits. By submitting, contributors agree that their kit may be published in the public library, exhibited, printed, and disseminated in service of the initiative's mission, with full credit to the contributor in all contexts.
All submitted kits are reviewed against the usability criteria defined in the submission framework. Contributors will be notified by email of the outcome of their submission.
SUBMISSION FRAMEWORK
What we are asking for
Every kit in the library must meet four minimum conditions:
A plain-language statement of what the kit is about, written for a non-expert reader. Not a technical abstract. A clear, direct description of what the kit offers and what situation it is most useful for.
A Declared Scope
An honest statement of what the kit does not cover. This is not a weakness. It is information.
A Declared Limit
An identification of who the kit is most useful for and in what situation. The more precisely the kit identifies its intended user, the more useful it becomes to the person browsing the library.
A Declared User
A Self-contained Document
The kit must be understandable and actionable without requiring the user to source additional expertise to interpret it.
SUBMISSION
how to submit
Download the submission framework. Read it in full. Prepare your kit according to the minimum conditions it defines.
When you are ready, send your kit to submit@arch4ret.com with the subject line: Kit Submission - [Your Name or Team Name]
Your email should include your name or the name of your team or institution, your contact details, and a short plain-language description of what your kit offers and who it is for. Attach your kit as a PDF or ZIP file.