Building for Hope

Following her dramatic memoir, The Battle for Home, Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni brings us Building for Hope, in which she explores how cities and buildings might be rebuilt in the aftermath of conflict, crisis or financial depression. This is a rich journey, drawing together several narratives including personal observations of some of the world’s most fascinating cities, from Detroit to Helsinki, from Bristol to Amsterdam; the lessons that Western societies might learn from Islamic culture; and philosophical reflections, drawing on a range of thinkers, on how our personal and communal spaces can provide the basic foundations for happiness. Through this rich tapestry of personal experience, unblinking perspective, and unsettling insight, al-Sabouni offers the reader real-world solutions – and hope – for how the conditions for enduring peace might be created in an increasingly polarizing world.