Competition History and Operation - YEAR 3

• Competition for the Reconstruction of Destroyed Palestinian Villages "Year 3" :

  
  

       

• Jury deliberating the submissions of the Competition for the Reconstruction of Destroyed Palestinian Villages "Year 3" :

         

• The Winners of the Competition for the Reconstruction of Destroyed Palestinian Villages "Year 3" are:

Ain Ghazal is a village located about 20km South of Haifa, and 4km away from the shore at an altitude of 110m above sea level. Ain Ghazal used to be a prosperous village, with most of its economy relying on agriculture and farming; its proximity to Haifa allowed its inhabitants to work in the city as well.
Most importantly though, Ain Ghazal is a symbol of Palestinian resistance and a figure of heroism against the Israeli invasion. Along with the neighboring villages of Jabaa and Ajzam, Ain Ghazal was part of the “Little Triangle”, which resisted two Israeli raids in June and July of 1948. On the 25th of August of that year, and despite the truce, the Israeli army, under the pretense of a police operation, attacked the resisting villages, a third and final time. Unfortunately, it was a fatal attach for the villages; according to the UN, 8,000 people were displaced and 130 were killed or reported missing.

Today, all that remains are a few scattered ruins between the shrubs. No one is to be seen for miles, except for the cars traversing the landscape on the newly built Israeli road, cutting through the old town.
But Ain Ghazal is not dead; its memory remains through these ruins, through the preserved Sheikh Shehade Makam, and through its inhabitants, dispersed within occupied Palestine and around the world.
Ain Ghazal is not dead, and we are bringing it back to life in a new physical and spatial form that commemorates its permanent resistance; a new form that will host life for it to prosper again.

Ain Ghazal used to boast many sources of water that quenched the thirst of its inhabitants and irrigated its fertile lands, giving its name to the village. These sources were destroyed along with the buildings during the Israeli attacks, and the water was used to supply the Israeli state, mainly through Mekorot, the national water company of Israel. The village therefore doesn’t have active water sources anymore. Furthermore, the Israelis built a large road that disfigured its landscape, and cut through the fertile terraces which used to bear many fruit and olive trees. In order to recover the identity of Ain Ghazal, we propose to start with the source of life, to bring back the water within a new spatial interpretation of the “ain”, which is intended to reclaim Palestinian presence on site and remove the violent infrastructural and physical traces of occupation. Accordingly, a water reservoir will be created between the two hills – collecting rainwater and using underground resources – which will in turn connect the landscape, and be used for the village to be self-sustainable, off the Israeli grid. The body of water created will then visually and symbolically drown the divisive road built by the Israelis.
  As water flows again, life comes back to Ain Ghazal. The water reservoir becomes an inhabited infrastructure irrigating agriculture lands and hosting the cultural activities of the village, acting as a bridge not only between the hills, but also between the past of the village and its future. The structure acts as a make shift space as well. Temporary houses are provided for inhabitants as well to reside while they build their own houses. All functions are embedded in this structure that becomes a landmark, acting as the heart and brain of the village. It is the gate to the town, as its main façade inevitably welcomes those who are driving on the road. The structure is therefore a multifaceted gesture that is spatial, visual, functional, and symbolic.
Approaching Ain Ghazal, one first sees a tower reaching to the skies. This tower acts as vertical circulation for the project, reaching an elevated platform that watches over the surroundings, flagging the village below. The village peaks through a layer of local vegetation that organically grows on the glazed façade. At its center, it opens up to welcome visitors into the town, continuing under the water to resurface at the end of the village.

On the lower floors, parking areas are available for both residents and visitors who can then reach the market on the floor above, which oversees the road and the car flow. To the north, light industries ensure sustainable economic growth, providing jobs for the residents. The fourth floor is divided into two parts: a more private part consisting of clinics and classrooms to the South, and a more public part forming the museum to the North. The museum celebrates the memory of Ain Ghazal and encourages visitors to experience how the village resisted occupation and violence. The floors above include the school, temporary housing stacked around courtyards on the South, and the amphitheater and library on the North. On the 6th floor, the southern part is dedicated to the religious quarters, and an indoor socializing space includes seating spaces and a cafeteria. The northern part provides features a public multipurpose hall and features the municipality. The roof thus becomes the “Saha” of Ain Ghazal, a living outdoor space where all the community gather. It overlooks the surroundings, enjoying the sea view, but mostly overlooks its own water reservoir, which acts an open-air amphitheater when the water level decreases in summer. Around the water, terraces are planted with local plants and vegetables. As such, while agriculture and farming remain one a main cultural practice and source of revenue of Ain Ghazal, as it used to be, residents can also sell their produce to the city as is, or after being processed in the village’s small industries. Dispersed in the landscape, signs indicate the location of old monuments and Makams ensure that residents and visitors remain connected to their history and memory, and continue the museum experience in the natural environment.
As water brings life back to Ain Ghazal, it progressively spreads into and around the water reservoir, while people build their homes and farm their lands. The village develops along the rhythm of its inhabitants, naturally growing, uniting with its land as an ultimate symbol of resistance and belonging.
 
Ain Ghazal survives.

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Commendation:
Building connection with the people of the village:
In order to get the vision (the proposed design) it was necessary first to start with nuclei. The nuclei are connected to the people of the village (Refugees in Nur Shams camp) in Tulkarm. From the refugees, two important nuclei were extracted; Memories of the village in order to recover what cannot be forgotten or ignored, and the current conditions of Refugees in the Camp.

After reviving the nuclei, the process of design took place through participating and involving the Refugees in the design process. The participatory design included many ways; identifying local group and community hubs in the camp, make community assessment meetings, listen to them and incorporate my thought and opinion in order to reach the Refugees Needs and Desires.

The Research through the past and present conditions of both sites and the surrounding areas and designing with camp members and hubs, in order to identify values and concerns within the camp; generated an equitable design that is based on Several BYLAWS and principles.
 
Plan of action:
Nur -shams refugee camp currently coexist difficult circumstances. The Refugees are in need of new living principles and values that uplift a new life system and form the KEY toward the future life. The refugee camp current economic, political and cultural systems are useless. Palestinian Refugees are in need of proposals for transformation that will end the cycle of the current life conditions, and instead create a future where equality, true democracy, community ownership and sustainability are available.

New Life Principles in Ayn Ghazal Village: 

Working conditions:
The term EMPLOYEE will no longer take place, instead there will be PROMOTERS. PROMOTERS will SERVE and PRODUCE for the sake of their community rather than to have a SALARY. Also,
the community will support promoters with all surviving basics for free (including every type of production) for example; home and all community services. This will mean equal support to all people. Also Companies and businesses terms will be transformed into BODIES.

Days of week:
WORKING DAYS will be PRODUCTION DAYS INSTEAD. Production days will not have exact mandatory work period, instead each promoter will be committed on his/her own to terminate the duties towards the community, because the process is Reciprocal. Therefore Promoters have to manage their time in an effective manner, and so will have MORE FREE-TIME. In addition to that, there will be during the week A COMMUNITY DAY, where all people of all age groups will participate in charitable work for the benefit of the entire community.

Democracy: Through THE HUB = Al- Diwan house that maintain equal access by all people. The hub will be used to; plan, find solutions, meet new cultures, communicate and share knowledge.

Habitation: Each habitation unit will consist of main living necessities. therefore the units will be small as Refugees adapt the idea of living in camp small houses, and this is mainly to encourage transforming from INDOOR GENERATION to more PRODUCTIVE GENERATION.
 
The Vision (Architectural result):
In addition to the exact site of the old village, the proposed design will be expanded to the colony of Ofer (the new expansion).

Site of old village: The starting point is from the Original villagers where the only reaming building in the village (Al-Maqam) stands, which is located in the old village’s cemetery. The start is a memorial for the village that consists of concrete walls and halls in the ground. These walls and halls will remain through time and life changes to signify the existence of the village.
Due to the importance of the old village site, the land will be used for all kinds of production and socializing such as, Farming (in community farm) working (in bodies), producing (workshops), learning (in cultural zone), and commercial exchanging (community market) planning (in Al-Diwan) and socializing (in the public square- Saha), but the lands will never be used for horizontal housing expansion purposes. Instead Habitation in the old site of the village will be vertically established. In addition to that, all forested lands will remain the same, for the sake of the natural environment, and in some parts of land, forested area is used as Natural Park for the community of the village.

The expansion: on the site of Ofer colony, the proposed design is expanded. In some parts of the new expansion, a new layer of ground is achieved, through the dismantling of some of the existent surface – roads, sidewalks, private gardens – and their replacements with a new surface layer. This layer includes some new roads, schools, community farms, industrial workshops, guest houses and finally habitation units in two different types. The first type in the new expansion is lifted on ground in order to maintain the view sight and to keep continuity in using the ground for production purposes. While the second is designed on ground. Both habitation types go along with the main concept of the small habitation units. While, the existent settlement residential units are also used for the same purpose but in a different way. Since the red pitched roof became the emblem, the ubiquitous symbol of Jewish settlements, the design proposes ‘un-roofing’ which is to get rid out of settlements buildings roofs in order to create more suitable public buildings and to cover it with the old traditional skin (Palestinian stone) of the village.

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Commendation:
Shahd Ibrahim Yousef Farran, University of Jordan, (UOJ02)

Project: Safsaf Village - Safad District