Different Housing Spaces: Space, Function, and Use of Barrack-Huts in World War I Refugee Camps

This paper argues that the modern standardised camp barrack-hut is far more than a simple temporary dormitory for specific inhabitants. It is a complex spatial structure that is not solely generated by factors such as design, construction or equipment, but also by its use and its symbolic functions. The huge housing barracks in the refugee camps of the Habsburg monarchy inWorld War I serve as a case study for investigating the relationships between space, function and use of this building type. The paper focuses on the interwined factors of the (bio)political aims of the government, the designdecisions of the planners in the construction offices who translated these ideas into a material form, the regulations of everyday life by the camp management, the appropriations of the refugees to whom these rooms had been allocated, and finally, the external visitors’ reception of the camps.