“Architecture is a social act and the material theatre of human activity...” -Spiro Kostof

Upon entering Cairo, the evidence of too little space is every-where. How could it not be, in a city of 20 million people? Apartments rise higher and higher into the sky, one on top of the other, cars and taxis traverse the streets, carrying a never-ending stream of people, and the city never seems to stop living. It is a space filled to the brim with people.

Inside the courtyard of St. Andrew’s, it is obvious that space is similarly a problem.

In the Resettlement Legal Aid office, things are similarly In the Resettlement Legal Aid office, things are similarly cramped. In both a poetic and fitting manner, a graduate of Yale Law sits in the tiny kitchen as she provides legal aid to help the clients who come to our door. The walls are damp in spots where water is coming in, the sounds of people selling their goods and bustling about pierce through the open window near the ceiling, and the accordion door sways slightly in the breeze where it has come unattached from the wall. in the breeze where it has come unattached from the wall.

Even more compelling than the well-educated staff practically living on top of each other is the space issue for the refugees themselves. Outside the accordion kitchen door of the legal aid office, at least three meetings are being conducted simulta-neously within the small set of open rooms. The room is loud with the sounds of many voices and many languages coming together, although everyone is trying to keep their voices low. Naturally, the goal is to use all the people and resources availNaturally, the goal is to use all the people and resources avail-able in order to serve more people at one time. The need is never-ending. Refugees come not just from far reaches of the city, but from other parts of Egypt, to receive legal aid from StARS. To turn them away would be awful, but the alternative has difficulties as well. Often the stories recounted by the refugees are horrific ones of torture and pain, and yet they must be discussed with another group of people mere feet away. Privacy and confidentiality are musts, yet they are fleet-ing with the amount of people in the room.

Ahmed S, the RLAP office manager and go-to operator at StARS, tells me about how he tries to place meetings of refu-gees from differing countries next to each other, so that at least the difference in languages can provide some barrier of privacy. But still it is hard and unfair to see a woman in tears, while across the room people are drinking tea and laughing. Though the laughter and tea drinking should not have to end, the dichotomy is a painful one.the dichotomy is a painful one.

The space issue is not confined to the legal aid office. Fiona, the director of the Children’s Education Program (CEP), tells me about not having enough opportunities to teach the chil-dren due to lack of space. Only the high school students have a full day of school, due to the lack of classrooms. Downstairs I watch two classes being taught on opposite ends of the Guild Hall auditorium. A temporary partition separates the classes, but the noise of little voices carries across the entire hall.but the noise of little voices carries across the entire hall.