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University of Oregon M. ARCH THESIS RESEARCH
eli rosenwasser LIMINAL SPACE
Concepts In Conflict Urbanism TABLE OF CONTENTS
ISRAEL : PALESTINE CONFLICT BORDER SHIFTING 4-9
WEST BANK ANALYSIS 10-15
JERUSALEM ANALYSIS 16-29
CONTEMPORARY REALITIES 30-43
SITE CONTEXT 44-49
PROGRAM CONCEPTS 50-53
WORKS CITED 54-57 ISRAEL : PALESTINE CONFLICT BORDER SHIFTING 4-9
WEST BANK ANALYSIS 10-15 LIMINAL
JERUSALEM ANALYSIS 16-29 1. of or relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. CONTEMPORARY REALITIES 30-43
SITE CONTEXT 44-49 2. occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.
PROGRAM CONCEPTS 50-53
WORKS CITED 54-57 3 ISRAEL : PALESTINE CONFLICT BORDER SHIFTING
1947-2013
Maps adapted from : ATLAS OF THE CONFLICT ISRAEL - PALESTINE and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian Territory Maps 4 1947 1949 1956 Border defined by Cease-fire Line Border following the UN Partition Plan (later the Green Line) capture of territory after the 1948 Arab- during the Second Israeli War Arab-Israeli War
Maps adapted from : ATLAS OF THE CONFLICT ISRAEL - PALESTINE and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian Territory Maps 5 1957 1967 1973 Cease-fire Line be- Cease-fire Line after Border following tween the Second the 1967 Arab-Israeli the capture of terri- Arab-Israeli War War tory during the 1973 and the 1967 Arab- Arab-Israeli War Israeli War
6 1974 1975 1980 Cease-fire Line after Border following the Border following the the 1973 Arab-Israeli Israeli disengage- Israeli disengage- War ment from part of the ment from part of the Sinai Peninsula Sinai Peninsula
7 1982 1985 1993 Border following Border following the Internal borders are Israeli withdrawal partial Israeli with- defined between from the Sinai pen- drawal from South Israel and the future insula and invasion Lebanon, keeping Palestinian state at of South Lebanon control of a ‘security the Oslo conference belt’
8 1994 2002 2005 2013 Internal borders are Internal borders are Internal borders are Borders in the West defined between forcibly defined with defined by Israeli Bank defined by the Israel and the future the construction of disengagement from Wall and Settlements Palestinian state the Wall in the West the Gaza Strip and creating an Archi- as a wall is erected Bank Continued construc- pelago of isolated around Gaza Strip tion of the Wall communities
9 Occupation Wall 2005-2013
1949 Armistice Line
Area between Wall and 1949 Armistice Line
10 WEST BANK WALL
- 12.4% of the West Bank is in between the Wall and the Armistice line
- 210,000 people are caught between the Wall and the Armistice line
- The Wall eliminates Jerusalem as the metropolitan center for the greater West Bank
- The Wall separates villages and creates social fragmentation
11 Palestinian Communities
1949 Armistice Line
Israeli Ethnocratic Installation Zones (Housing, Kibbutzim, Moshavim, Military Bases)
12 ETHNOCRACY
Regimes found in contested territories where a dominant ethnic group utilizes the state to further its expansionist aspirations, while maintaining the semblance of a formal democracy
13 14 ARCHIPELAGO
EXCLAVE : Settlements for Jewish Israelis built in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank
ENCLAVE : Palestinian areas served by segregated road systems and surrounded by buffer zones
15 16 JERUSALEM 2014
Old City Jerusalem Israeli Neighborhoods Palestinian Neighborhoods 1948 Armistice Line (Green Line) West Bank Barrier Wall Jerusalem Municipality
17 18 LIMINAL URBANITY
The city of Jerusalem, particularly East Jerusalem, is currently experi- encing a transitional period that leaves a significant portion of the city in a liminal existence. This unique urban condition is the focus of this the- sis project. The intention is to discover a new typology of architecture that could foster a geourban bond between Israelis and Palestinians who live in this liminal existence and hopefully catalyze a peaceful coex- istence. By using two villages in the southern region of East Jerusalem as the context for this new typology, this thesis will offer one small step in the direction of a peaceful coexistence in the future.
19 20 ‘SUBURBAN’ COLONIZATION
Using the settlement enterprise as a socioeconomic and geographical process of metropolitan sub urbanization
21 22 SPACIOCIDE
Areas that have been forced into the zone between the Wall and the 1948 Armistice Line. These zones are neither Palestinian Territory nor Israeli Territory. They are stateless, spaceless, “twilight” zones. Spatial, Political, Socioeconomic, and Physical fragmentation make develop- ment and cultural progress, nearly impossible.
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SPATIAL ENCIRCLING Utilization of city planning policy to enclose Palestinian ar- eas by expropriating certain zones as “public parks” or “na- ture areas” strictly for the Israeli “public.” This creates buf- fer zones with restricted roads that block Palestinian expansion.
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ROAD COMPARISON
Roads in Palestinian neighborhoods are neglected because they do not reinforce an israeli ethnocracy, excuses are made with regard to funding, driving the inability for development and contemporary utilites. Pales- tinian road access, especially to main roads, is cut off and intentionally truncated.
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COMMUNITY ACCESS POINTS The Israeli Settlements in East Jerusalem, including the community in the diagram (Har Homa), tend to have very closed off control points to access the inner walls of the isolated community. In the case of Har Homa there is one main entry point with a military road encircling the land around it. The adjacent Palestinian neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Um Tuba have very permeable access points because of military roads and zones that cut through their communities. There is a direct and maintained road from the main highway directly into Har Homa while the Sur Baher and Um Tuba roads are in poor condition with no direct access. 29 30
OVER UNDER There are separate road systems in the West Bank and East Jerusalem for Palestinian and Israeli drivers. There is a secluded highway system that runs between mainland Israel and the West Bank, offering direct and unobstructed passage between settlements, military installations and the etirety of the State of Israel and Occupied Territories. This road system at times is subterranian, along the Wall, cutting like a viaduct through a Palestinian community, or functioning as a route for surveil- lance. The Palestinian road system consists of much smaller, poorly maintained roads that are riddled with moving checkpoints and fixed checkpoints. 31 82%
18%
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WATER SEGREGATION
West Bank water aquafers are 82% to 18% Israeli to Palestinian. Water segregation is a barrier set up to control water access on either side. It is a race to see who can have control over the wells and springs. There are 3.6 Million Palestinians consuming approx. 259 mcm per year while there are 6.8 Million Israelis consuming approx. 1,831 mcm per year.
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CHECKPOINTS
The military checkpoints along Palestinian roads and at the border of the Wall are common experiences for Palestinians. It is typical, espe- cially at the larger checkpoints to find small vendors selling various items while vehicles wait in line. It is an intensified version of the bottlenecking that occurs at most international vehicular land borders between coun- tries. There is a certain level of anticipated hostility and possibility for violence between the soldiers and drivers that makes the experience on both sides a more intense encounter. 35 ISOLATED COMMUNITY ISOLATED COMMUNITY ISLAND ISLAND
POTENTIAL FOR PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE
ISOLATED COMMUNITY ISOLATED COMMUNITY ISLAND ISLAND
Community of Understanding
Bridging Islands / Proposed Program
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BRIDGING ISLAND
The archipelago of the West Bank is a cluster of isolated Israeli Settle- ments, Palestinian communities and cities, “refugee camps”, kibbutzim, moshavim, military installations, and agricultural zones. Working with this structural typology of interconnected islands, this diagram was gen- erated in an effort to express how a new form of “island” could function as a bridge between communities. The creation of an ISOLATED COM- MUNITY OF COEXISTENCE could work to bridge the two communities
together while sheltering them from aggressors toward peace. 37 Jerusalem - 1918 Ottoman Period
Ottoman - Era Jerusalem Boundary
Old City Jerusalem
Jerusalemite Religious Sect
Non - Jerusalemite Religious Sect
Acceptable Marriage
Unacceptable Marriage
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GEOGRAPHIC IDENTITY
Jerusalemites shared a common bond that at times transcended eth- nicity and religion. Apparently, it would be absurd to marry a non-Jeru- salemite, but acceptable to marry a Jerusalemite Jew/Muslim/Christian/ Armenian/Arab. Prior to nationalization, Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Armenians were parts of neighborhoods and would identify with geogra- phy. Since nationalization the different groups identify with an ethnoreli- gious group.
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SERVICE ECONOMIES
In West Jerusalem there are a few common places where Israelis and Palestinians interact on a regular basis. These relationships can provide inspiration for ways to improve interaction, interdependence, and com- munication in a normalized manner between Israelis and Palestinians. The HEALTH, TRANSPORTATION, and CONSTRUCTION businesses are service economies that currently foster modes of peaceful coexis- tence. This thesis will attempt to suggest other realms in which Israelis
and Palestinians can work, learn, and enrich each others existence. 41 42
HAND IN HAND SCHOOLS
The major inspiration for the program and design of this thesis is the current success of the Hand in Hand schools that are gaining momen- tum in Israel, including Jerusalem. The intended program will utilize the Hand in Hand school phylosophy of bilingual education and learning en- vironments that celebrate and explore the diverse multicultural realities of the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Focusing the the BRIDGING ISLAND toward the younger generation of Jerusalemites while including the older, provides the potential for a new generation of acceptance, un-
derstanding and compassion. 43 44
AMERICAN FRONT PORCH
The American fron porch is another precedent in concept for the pro- gram of this thesis project. The history of the front porch within its own cultural contexts, places it between the sacred/profane, private/public, bridge/liminal, a place of interchange, a place to drink, a place to share. The liminal porch was clearly a place where the color barrier could be weakened if not destroyed. Caste and class can be suspended and commonality can be explored. The boundary between friend and stranger breaks down. Established relationships are freed from the con-
straints and tensions of business on the outside. 45
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SITE
The site for these BRIDGING ISLANDS is located in southern East Je- rusalem along Route 60 between Jerusalem’s Old City and Bethlehem. It is in the vicinity of a major checkpoint at the wall into Bethlehem and amongst the archipelago of isolated ethnoreligious communities in the LIMINAL zone of the municipality of Jerusalem between the armistice line and the wall. The site is intended to create LIMINAL ZONES of its own, straddling both the armistice line itself as well as the bounding road between places of ownership. Ideally each of these sites will serve different functions in the morhpology of the programming.
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SITE DETAIL
In the immediate viscinity of the site there are two different Israeli settle- ments Har Homa (1997) and Gilo (1973), the Palestinian villages of Sur Baher (1596), Umm Tuba (1596) and Beit Safafa (1517), the Ethiopian Jewish caravan village of Givat HaMatos (1991), and a kibbutz/motel Ramat Rachel (1926). There are two historically significant sites on the western edges of the site. There is the Mar Elias Monastery (6th Centu- ry) and the octagonal ruins of the Byzantine Kathisma Church (6th Cen- tury). The southern portion of the site climbs up the edge of the small mountain where the Mar Elias Monastery is perched on top while the northern portion is bounded by Ramat Rachel Kibbutz 49 50
PHYSICAL PROGRAM The program is to consist of physical components of shared activities that children and adults can engage in together. Forms of competi- tive and non-competitive activities, as well as activities that can foster a sense of interdependence, independence, and personal improvement. There is a movement in contemporary educational systems to integrate physical activity into the learning envrionment in order to increase and diversify the forms of learning. The building will incorporate and foster the opportunity for physical educational opportunities as well as recre- ational activities and spaces for the extended community. Many of the neighborhoods in the immediate viscinity have little or no public space for physical recreation and communal gathering. 51 52
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
The educational program for this site will use the platform of the Hand in Hand schools and adapt it to be focused toward science, technology, arts, and craft. It will serve as a k-12 public school with a bilingual em- phasis and completely mixed classrooms with both an Arabic instruc- tor and a Hebrew instructor. The school will have after hours classes for adults, especially geared toward craftsmanship. By educating the com- munity in physical craft they can improve their own environment from within. The program will function as a school, community hub, cultural center, and sports/activity facility. It will be an isolated zone in the archi- pelago that is aimed toward interaction, education, and understanding. 53
WORKS CITED
“Americans for Peace Now.” Americans for Peace Now. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
“Atlas Of The Conflict: Israel-Palestine [Hardcover].” Atlas Of The Con flict: Israel-Palestine: Malkit Shoshan: 9789064506888: Amazon. com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
“Bimkom.org.” Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
“City of Collision: Jerusalem and the Principles of Conflict Urbanism [Turtleback].” City of Collision: Jerusalem and the Principles of Con flict Urbanism: Philip Misselwitz, Tim Rieniets: 9783764374822: Am azon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
“Housing and Dwelling 1st Edition.” Housing and Dwelling Perspectives on Modern Domestic Architecture 1st Edition by Lane. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
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Learn for Life: New Architecture for New Learning: S. Ehmann, S. Borg es: 9783899554144: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. “Learning Together, Living Together | Hand In Hand.” Hand In Hand. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1960. Print.
Misselwitz, Philip, and Tim Rieniets. “Jerusalem and the Principles of Conflict Urbanism.” Journal of Urban Technology 2-3 16 (2009): 61- 78. Print. “My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel.” Barnes & No ble. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. “Simmel on Culture: Selected Writings (Published in Association with Theory, Culture & Society) [Hardcover].” Simmel on Culture: Selected Writings (Published in Association with Theory, Cul ture & Society): Georg Simmel, David Patrick Frisby, Mike Featherstone: 9780803986510: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. 55
Sissons, Miranda E. “Israel, the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority Territories : In a Dark Hour : The Use Civilians during IDF Arrest Operations.” New York, N.Y. : Human Rights Watch, [2002], n.d. Web. United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace (2010 : Qawra, Malta). “International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace : The Urgency of Addressing the Per manent Status Issues--borders, Jerusalem, Settlements, Refu gees and Water : Qawra, Malta, 12 and 13 February 2010.” [New York] : United Nations, Division for Palestinian Rights, [2010?], n.d. Web. United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine (2005 : Geneva). “United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine : Implementing the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - the Role of Govern ments, Intergovernmental Organizations and Civil Society : United Nations Office at Geneva, 8 and 9 March 2005.” Er New York : 56 United Nations, 2005, n.d. Web.
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