AREEJ ASHHAB_ Portfolio & Bio

AREEJ ASHHAB Portfolio & Bio - 2019

[ Architecture , Research , Design]

BIOGRAPHY AREEJ ASHHAB [b. 1995, Jerusalem] is an architecture graduate from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, 2019.

Her architectural practice is concerned with the relation between community, landscape and culture and deals with the fractures caused by geopolitical and colonial forces in this triangular relation. Areej sees the architect's role as a facilitator rather than a planner. In her work, she proposes open-ended infrastructures for the community which can change according to political and social circumstances. Her projects are research-based. Mountains reclaiming The Stone, Areej's graduation project, takes the building material as the starting point for a multifaceted outcome ranging from material design to urban intervention. The project received the Honourable Mention for the David Azrieli Architecture Student Award 2019. During her studies, she was selected to participate in exchange programs in Tokyo and Budapest.

Areej is currently working at AAU Anastas based in Bethlehem, an architectural studio that takes the local know-how as the starting point for their projects. In the studio, she is involved in a variety of projects ranging from building conservation to product design. She also works as a teaching assistant in 1st-Semester Studio and in "Conservation of Built Heritage Studio" class for 7th- and 9th-semester students at the Architecture Department in Bezalel.

Ashhab participated in numerous projects and exhibitions as a designer, curator, editor and researcher. Among them is her work for the Jerusalem Show IX: Jerusalem Actual & Possible at Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art (2018).

To contextualize the exhibition with historical and political material, she undertook research and prepared booklets, wall texts, models and city maps that complement the exhibited artworks. She also participated as: artist in workshop and exhibition Confrontations with PACA and Michigan State University, Ramallah (2019), research assistant for the UNESCO Chair in Urban Design & Conservation, Jerusalem (2017), and designer in Disarming Design From Palestine Creatshop, Jerusalem (2015).

CONTENT Architecture MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE...................................................................................... 2 Ever-expanding city, ever-shrinking walls................................................................................ 3 Building Practices.................................................................................................................... 4 White Oil................................................................................................................................. 5 Part I: reclaiming Beit Fajjar..................................................................................................... 8 Part II: reclaiming Slayyib........................................................................................................ 13 Part II: from Stone to Stone..................................................................................................... 14 From the Graduates Exhibiton................................................................................................ 15 VERTICAL NEIGHBOURHOOD.................................................................................................... 16 THE GRAND INTERIOR................................................................................................................ 18 UNFOLDING THE OLD CITY........................................................................................................ 20 Research JERUSALEM SHOW IX................................................................................................................. 22 Life of a stonemason.............................................................................................................. 23 Analogy [Research Appendix]................................................................................................ 24 Joggle Jerusalem................................................................................................................... 25 Design STONE GLOBE............................................................................................................................. 26 CHECKPOINT BAG...................................................................................................................... 27

CONTACT T +972 54 9055790

E areejashhab7@gmail.com W https://areejashhab.myportfolio.com/ A Mohammad Al-Fateh 1, Jerusalem 9716818

Architecture

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE Graduation Project - 2018/2019 Civic Architecture Unit- Arch. Liat Brix and Arch. Ytav Bouhsira The Honourable Mention for David Azrieli Architecture Student Award 2019 Mountains reclaiming The Stone addresses the immediate footprint of the stone industry on the landscape and the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories overshadowed

by Jerusalem's glittering "white" stone. The project, therefore, disputes the stone cladding regulations introduced by the British Mandate in 1918 and adopted by Israel since 1948 as an instrument to preserve the city's cultural heritage.

The project proposes different scales and tactics of architectural intervention to reclaim Palestinians’ historic relationship with the stone and its correlated cultural landscape.

Part I: Reclaiming Beit Fajjar gradually rephrases the landuse of quarries in Beit Fajjar, the largest Palestinian stone complex south of Bethlehem. The stone industry is currently the main source of income for the town's residents while it largely degrades their health and their landscape. The project proposes alternative industrial activities in the town by altering the quarrying practices and proposing communal factories with new crafts. The major aim is to empower the Palestinian economy and reduce environmental damage.

Part II: Reclaiming Slayyib addresses an expired history of stone quarrying in Slayyib, previously part of Beit Jala and buried today under Gilo Settlement south of Jerusalem. The proposal reactivates quarrying in the area as a tool to reclaim the landscape that has been fragmented by the multiple geopolitical boundaries on the one hand and to plan a future urban extension of Beit Jala through the act of digging on the other hand.

Part III: From Stone to Stone reclaims the facade through the use of stone waste as an alternative raw material in construction, turning it from an environmental burden to an economic opportunity for the Palestinians. Furthermore, the use of casting techniques allows introducing new block shapes and designs and redefining the architectural role of the stone facade.

Factory in Village Scale- a collage of Beit Fajjar town

2

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Ů?Ever-expanding city, ever-shrinking walls British Mandate (1918-1935)

British Mandate (1936-1948)

Traditional stone construction technique

Permanent shuttering technique

Post-1948 War (1948-1967)

Wet stone cladding technique

Post-1967 War

Dry stone cladding technique

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Stone Factories Dheisheh Built-up Surrounding Built-up Roads Dheisheh Boundaries

Surrounding Built-up Roads Stone Sites Contour Lines

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Building Practices Cross-section of a street in the Camp

5 working men in the house who can afford stone cladding

Natural Limestone

Articial Stone

Colorful Plaster

Rough Plaster

Plaster

The electricity is for free. It is supplied from Alquds Electrivity Co.

The owner of the house works as a plasterer

A catalog of facades and building materials used in the construction of houses in the Marda village- Salfit

The crane height is the only boundary to buildings height

Four lorries to transport the amount of stone needed

Ground coverage: up to 80%

A drawing analyzing the construction of a building in Kufr Aqab neighborhood isolated from Jerusalem by the segregation wall

4

An analytical section of a street in Dheisheh refugee camp- Bethlehem

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

White Oil

The quarry keeper walks by a bulldozer, Taffuh- Hebron, from the video Stone in Practice, link: https://vimeo.com/362360676 (Areej, 2018)

Al-minjal (diamond cutting machine), Al-Khader- Bethlehem, from the video Stone in Practice (Areej, 2018)

Shelter for the workers in the quarry made from the extracted stone blocks, Beit Fajjar- Bethlehem (Areej, 2019)

Naked stone factory structure, Beit Fajjar- Bethlehem (Areej, 2018)

Al-burj (the tower)- a leftover of the mountain standing in the middle of a quarry, Beit Fajjar- Bethelehem (Areej, 2018)

The stone terraces overlooking the stone dumping site, Beit FajjarBethlehem (Areej, 2019)

Stone hammering area where workers dress the stone tiles into tubza, talteesh or musasam, Al-Khader- Bethlehem (Areej, 2018)

Waste water filteration pools next to a stone factory seperating water from stone slurry, Beit Fajjar- Bethlehem (Areej, 2019)

One of the workers in a factory moves the stone block to al-minjal, Al-Khader- Bethelehem, from the video Stone in Practice (Areej, 2018)

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Architecture

White Oil

The Israeli stone-cladding regulations are implemented today within the so-called “Greater Jerusalem” – Jerusalem and the surrounding Israeli settlements – driving a huge Palestinian stone industry in the occupied territories, dubbed “White Oil.” Israel avoids extracting stone in its lands for environmental reasons. Instead, it imports the stone from Palestinian companies and exports it under the name of Israeli Stone. Palestinians benefit economically from the status quo as the stone industry provides about fifteen thousand working opportunities and produces about a quarter of the total Palestinian exports

JENIN

Central Mountains Map Scale 1:250,000

Yabad Arrabeh Fahmeh Kufr Ra’i

Qabatiya Misilyah

Kfeer

Distribution of Factories

GILO

NABLUS

Immatain Asira Al-Qibliyah

2

20% AL-KHADER

Qalandiya

6

Al-Samou’

700

EFRAT

Ma’ale Adumim

Distribution 700

Distribution 600 Distribution

700 500 700 600 400 600 500 300 500 400 200 400 300 100 300 2000 200 100 MARAH RABAH 100 0 0

KFAR EZION

BETHELEHEM

MIGDAL OZ

Israeli Market Palestinian Market Foreign Market

RAMALLAH

600 JENIN Distribution of Factories 700 RAMALLAH 500 NABLUS of Factories 700 600 JENIN RAMALLAH 400 600 BETHLEHEM 500 RAMALLAH NABLUS JENIN 300 of Factories JENIN 500 400 NABLUS of200 Factories BETHLEHEM NABLUS 400 RAMALLAH 300 HEBRON 100 RAMALLAH BETHLEHEM JENIN 300 200 JENIN 0 BETHLEHEM NABLUS HEBRON 200 100 NABLUS HEBRON 0 100 BETHLEHEM HEBRON BETHLEHEM 0 of Sales Distribution HEBRON of Sales Distribution HEBRON

15%

Sea

Distribution of Sales Distribution of Sales

BEIT FAJJAR

Dead

Al-Shuyukh Bani Na’im

Yatta

Distribution of Factories

65%

Distribution of Factories

Beit Fajjar

HEBRON

Distribution of Sales

15%

RAMALLAH

Taffuh

HEBRON

0

Birzeit

Sa’ir

BETHLEHEM

BEIT JALA

BETAR ILLIT

Tarqumya

NABLUS

100

BETHLEHEM

Gush ‘Etzion

500

200

SALFIT

JERUSALEM

JENIN

400

Urif Jamma’in

Giv’at Ze’ev

RAMALLAH

600

300

HUSAN

Beit Duku

700

AL-ARROUB CAMP

1

20% 15% 65% 15% Distribution of Sales20% 15% of Sales Distribution 65% 20% 65% 20% 15% 65%Israeli Market 15% Palestinian Market 20% 20%

Greater Jerusalem- context of intervention, 1- Beit Fajjar, 2-

Market IsraeliMarket Foreign

65% Palestinian Market 65% Israeli Market

Market Market Palestinian Israeli Market Foreign Palestinian MarketForeign Market Slayyib Market Foreign Market Israeli Israeli Market Palestinian Market Palestinian Market Foreign Market Foreign Market

~15,000 WORKING FORCES ~15,000 ~15,000 FORCES WORKING

~15,000 WORKING FORCES WORKING FORCES ~15,000 ~700 ~15,000 WORKING FORCES STONE FACTORIES WORKING FORCES ~700 ~700 FACTORIES STONE ~700 STONE FACTORIES STONE FACTORIES ~700 ~700 ~250 STONE FACTORIES STONE FACTORIES ACTIVE QUARRIES ~250 ~250 QUARRIES ACTIVE ~250 ACTIVE QUARRIES ACTIVE QUARRIES ~250 ~250 ACTIVE QUARRIES ACTIVE QUARRIES

Quarry Quarry Taffuh, Hebron District Taffuh, Hebron MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE Scale 1:50

1:100

White Oil

745m

Cross-section of a quarry in Taffuh, Hebron Scale 1:150

740m Electricity infrastructure of the quarries

Digging

- costs 1-2 millions to reach the rock layers - takes 6 months- 1 year

735m

Not suitable for building (Most of the waste is transported to another dumping site)

Digging starts from here

730m

725m

725m

Waste

The ďŹ rst stratum light yellow

.5m

The second stratum darker yellow (the best quality)

720m

1 1-

Fantini machine 1.5 meters/hour

720m

cuts the rock layer vertically into cubes following an orthogonal grid

Bulldozer

715m

715m 1.5-2.5m

The third stratum the darkest

710m

- 400-600 cubes/dunam of each stratum - 1 cube costs around 3000 shekels

Layers beneath this height are not suitable for building

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710m

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part II: reclaiming Beit Fajjar MIGDAL OZ

MARAH RABAH Road bounding the village

AL-ARROUB CAMP Map Key Current: Stone factories Future: Land plots for development Current: Quarries Future: Organized industrial area Stone waste dumping area Turonian stone area Area B Paved Roads Unpaved Roads Roads serving the industrial area

Roads connecting with Sa’ir and Al-Shyoukh in Hebron District

Beit Fajjar Map- Scale 1:16,000

The project proposes an infiltration approach towards economic and cultural renewal in an ongoing destructive economic activity in Beit Fajjar town mainly based on the stone industry.

With 160 dispersed stone factories and about 40 active quarries, the stone industry in the town is degrading the landscape and the health of the local community due to lack of appropriate planning methods and land use regulations. This situation result from systematic policies and restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupying authorities, together with the misuse and exploitation of land and natural resources by Palestinian investors involved in the industry.

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With an aspiration to reclaim Palestinians’ historic integral relationship with their landscape, the proposal suggests land use and ownership regulations that aim at creating new possibilities for more communal economic and cultural activity in the town.

The project proposes to gradually move the stone factories away from the residential area to the area of the quarries by exchanging land ownerships. This allows residential and public programs to occur near the houses while a new industrial zone is created in the abandoned quarries.

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part II: reclaiming Beit Fajjar Illustrations A

PHASE 1

100%

factories move to quarries & ownership exchange

100%

= 100%

100%

3 land plots for 3 stone factories

The owner of the quarry also owns a factory. He keeps its structure and turns it into a greenhouse

100% 100%

3 neighbouring land plots of quarries

DEVELOPMENT SHARES

TENURE SHARES

+ B

33%

A

2 neighboring stone factories turn into a sports center and residency.

A previously quarry owner shares the project with an external investor

PHASE 2 300%

PHASE 3

The 3 land plots previously for factories become public for development, the 3 previously quarry owners get new ownership and development shares

Diagrams Key 75% 75%

+

20% Residencies 15% Public sports center

B

The 3 quarries are united into 1 land plot shared by the 3 factory owners for 10 years while quarrying continues

75%

67%

65%

75%

The land plot is divided again between the 3 factory owners with an additional land plot for common use while the new quarried land becomes public

Stone factory owner

Originally quarry land owner

New tenants

Investor

Mulk (private)

Masha’ (common)

As quarrying continues underground, the stone factories move to the inactive quarries. A group of factories share the storage area in a courtyard-shaped structure with the machines surrounding it.

The storage area becomes an additional factory where workers get the opportunity to develop small crafts. The upper oor includes a research center and residencies for the workers.

Municipality

9

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part II: reclaiming Beit Fajjar The project presents a 10-years scenario to reclaim an abandoned quarry in Beit Fajjar by implementing the new land regulations. The existing technologies and knowledge are employed and rephrased as a starting point towards the change.

The scenario proposes a common stone factory that can be divided after several years of operation.

In the centre, the extracted stone blocks are arranged to create temporary small spaces for the workers to work on their crafts besides their conventional tasks in the factory. The factory includes areas for recycling stone waste and a research centre for material development.

The project also proposes to alter the quarrying practices. It suggests underground digging to extract stone as an alternative method to open-pit quarrying. Stone extraction starts from the sidewall of the cliff and holes on the upper surface. Quarrying occurs only in the solid rock strata suitable for the construction industry. Three different techniques are involved in underground digging: creating tunnels, large pillar rooms, and room and pillar mining. The surface is preserved for agriculture while the underground voids are repurposed after quarrying is over. The agricultural lands on the top involve stone waste in their activity. The underground void lit by the skylights is used for alternative education on the stone industry where stone waste is experimented to create new building materials.

Reclaiming a quarry in Beit Fajjar as proposed in 2030 Scale 1:250 Common stone factory

Section line prior to intervention

Private agricultural land

Stone blocks are put one on top of the other to create small spaces for the workers to work on their crafts before the blocks are cut into tiles for cladding purposes

Double skin detail: glass ďŹ ber reinforced concrete with stone dust blocks in metallic frames

noon shift (12:00pm -4:00 pm) at common crafts area

morning shift (8:00am -12:00 pm) at stone factory Future private factories

4 m not suitable for cladding (NSC)

4 m (NSC) 1 m suitable for cladding (SC) 3 m (SC) 3 m (NSC)

Rain harvesting pool

2.5 m (SC) 1.4 m (SC) 2 m (SC)

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Raised beds for seasonal agriculture with small stone pieces

waste water pool ďŹ ltered water pool

Future quarrying path

Temporary ro

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

road for mobilizing stone

Architecture

Community garden and entrance to the industrial school

School department for material development artiďŹ cial slope from stone blocks to direct rain water towards the underground pool

Bamboo helps ďŹ lter the water in the soil Gabion walls for terracing

In winter, the water moves from the terraces to the pool

Rain harvesting pool In summer, water moves from the pool to the terraces and the stone cutting machines

2

3

1

tunneling

large pillar mining

room and pillar mining

11

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part II: reclaiming Beit Fajjar

Redestroying The Mountains- a super-position of a drone-shot video in Beit Fajjar quarries by the municipality of Beit Fajjar and a video documenting the process of carving an y-tong block to create a model of a fragment from the quarries in a scale of 1:1000 Video Link: https://vimeo.com/362357736

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Sectiom Model of Proposal- a model of the underground alternative industrial school as proposed in a quarry in Beit Fajjar in 2030. Scale: 1:75

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part I: reclaiming Slayyib Slayyib1 is an area belonging to Beit Jala town where the reddish Mizzi Yahudi2 stone had been extracted for hundreds of years. Until the 1990s, the stone crafts constituted the main source of income for the people of Beit Jala. Thanks to its quality stones, Slayyib constituted a connection point between Jerusalem and Beit Jala. Its stones are known for their exotic red colour and their hardness well-described in the name slayyib. These stones not only erect the houses and churches of Beit Jala but also envelop the beautiful castles in Talbiya, Baq’a and Qatamon neighbourhoods in Jerusalem.

The construction of Gilo settlement after the Israeli occupation in 1967 interrupted the quarrying activities in Slayyib and covered a large area of the quarries. Following the Oslo accords in 1993, Slayyib was separated from Beit Jala by the Israeli segregation wall and the tunnels highway connecting Gush Etzion settlements with Jerusalem. Two abandoned quarries which were active until the mid-90s act today as a shred of evidence to what used to be there.

1 2

An Arabic word meaning relatively hard A dolomite or dolomitic limestone, appreciated for its hardness which makes it an excellent building material

A recent Israeli master plan proposes an expansion of Gilo settlement towards the South. The project called “The Olive Trees Complex" proposes 2000 housing units for Israeli settlers. Another plan is to expand the width of 60 tunnels highway by adding a tunnel (track) to ease traffic for settlers who move between Gush 'Etzion and Jerusalem.

As a response to these plans, my initial proposal reclaiming Slayyib reactivates quarrying as a planning tool first to prepare for a future extension of Beit Jala towards its lands in Slayyib, and second to reclaim the landscape fragmented by the multiple geopolitical boundaries through digging them and in between them.

The proposal allows us to think of the quarry not as an activity ravaging the landscape somewhere behind the scenes, rather as a public urban activity that participates in planning the city. The project proposes a route for quarrying that starts parallelly in different land plots between Beit Jala and the abandoned quarries inside Gilo settlements. The gradually-sculpted holes of the quarries redraw the visible and invisible borders and set the ground for an urban extension constituting of a series of open public spaces.

GILO

BEIT BEITJALA JALA

Slayyib quarry

Proposed quarries

Alternative route for tunnels road

Inactive Quarry in Slayyib/Gilo- the quarry was closed in 1995 and developed into a shelter for informal dwellers later on, (Daniel Kovalenko,2019)

The initial intervention in Slayyib quarries, between Beit Jala and Gilo

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MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

Part III: from Stone to Stone Raw materials for briquetting STONE SLURRY

> 0.1 mm

GRAVEL

BROKEN PIECES

Na'ima

Simsimiyya

Adasiyya

Fuliyya

Musamsam

Talteesh

Tubzeh

1.5-3 mm

3-9 mm

9-16 mm

16-25 mm

10-30 mm

30-50 mm

80-160 mm

Glass powder 75% Stone powder 25%

DAMAGED BLOCKS

Cement 100%

Glass powder 50% Stone powder 50%

Cement 75% Stone powder 25% Glass powder 25% Stone powder 75%

UNTITLED Components stone powder and glass powder Technique baked in the oven at 770 celsius Pottential use heat insulator

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ARTIFICIAL STONE TILE Components cement and stone powder Technique wet casting (pressing)

CONCRETE FOR CONSTRUCTION Components cement and broken stone pieces Technique wet casting

MOUNTAINS RECLAIMING THE STONE

Architecture

From the Exhibiton Rooms

Graduates exhibition- Bezalel (Abid Kadri, 2019)

Photographs booklet- the graduates exhibition (Abid Kadri, 2019)

Azrieli Student Award Exhibition (Abdo Julani, 2019)

The Table of Materials (Areej, 2019)

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Architecture

VERTICAL NEIGHBOURHOOD Third year Project - 2017 Professor: Arch Yohushoua' Gutman and Arch Ran Shivtai The project learns from the different patterns of living spaces in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem and applies them through a new planning system of residences in Kufr Aqab, a Palestinian neighbourhood situated within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem but sits beyond the Israeli segregation wall. Due to its location, Kufr Aqab receives little or no regard from the Israeli municipality leaving control completely to the residents and the capitalist market. The project proposes an imagined tower built of "family clusters� as the basic housing units connected through a series of internal streets and courtyards that mount gradually inside the building. Thanks to the structural grid of columns and beams, the family clusters can expand horizontally providing connections with the neighbouring buildings.

Section of one family cluster

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Exploded axonometric drawing

3D simulation of the proposed tower

VERTICAL NEIGHBOURHOOD

Southern elevation of the proposed tower cutting through the corridors connecting to the neighbouring building

Architecture

Section of the proposed building showing the family clusters expanding towards the neighbouring buildings, the inner courtyards and roads.

17

Architecture

THE GRAND INTERIOR Third Year- Summer Studio in Tokyo- 2016 Professor: Arch. Erez Golani-Solomon A collaboration with Michal Mor During our five-weeks stay in Tokyo, we were asked to identify an extra-large event/space/phenomenon that occurs in the city and plan eight to twelve extra-small events/spaces/phenomena that relate to our Extra Large (XL).

Michal and I were overwhelmed by the prolonged hours we stayed indoor while moving in the city. Our exposure to a complex of interiors that constitute a significant part of the urban fabric in Tokyo emerged as a result of the need for mobility. The public transportation system is attached to a multiplicity of interior spaces that are almost detached from the outer world. These can be perceived as one extra-large interior space offering a variety of programs with no need to get out. It is a world in itself. This "Grand Interior" is our Extra-Large (XL) in Tokyo.

To enhance the presence of Tokyo's interior fabric, we planned Extra-Small (XS) gardens which constitute dead-end exits from the Grand Interior. Each garden grants a temporary visit to the outer world provoking feelings of surprise and mystery. They are all kind of halts inside the bustling Grand interior. **Michal and I shared the observation process, planning and presentation of the project. See the figures' captions for drawing credit.

THE GRAND INTERIOR- a drawing of Shinjuku train station in Tokyo with all the interior corridors, buildings and stations linked to it (Areej)

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THE GRAND INTERIOR

Architecture

XS 01-The Plants Shop (Michal)

XS 02- The Vertical Garden (Areej)

XS 03- The Two-Floors Garden (Michal)

XS 04- The Waterfall Garden (Michal)

XS 05- The Meditation Room (Michal)

XS 06- Garden Inside A Garden (Michal)

XS 07- The Floral Grandma (Michal)

XS 08- The Balcony Garden (Michal)

19

Architecture

UNFOLDING THE OLD CITY Project: First Year Project- 2015 Professor: Arch Ori Shalom A collaboration with Tom Asiskovich Following a deep observation of Khan Al-Sultan roof in the Old City of Jerusalem, Tom and I discovered various architectural phenomena that produce tense situations and complex layers of private and public spaces. We chose to study self-construction practices that constitute the main building method in the site. After a long process of examination and analysis, we started producing documents that imagine a 10-years scenario of the site, taking into consideration the natural increase of population and the development of existing programs. We used these parameters as tools to critically analyse the site and set the ground for our intervention. In the following step, we planned temporary events, that work in harmony with the self-constructed elements made from light materials. These events were planned on top of the future scenario we imagined for the site in 10 years. **Tom and I shared the observation process, planning and presentation of the project.

See the figures' captions for drawing credit.

Section of current state (Areej)

Section of proposed state (Areej and Tom)

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UNFOLDING THE OLD CITY

Architecture

Exploded axonometric drawing of vernacular elements in site (Areej)

Collage of self-constructed elements (Tom)

Exploded axonometric drawing of proposed state (Tom and Areej)

21

Research

JERUSALEM SHOW IX Theme: Jerusalem's Actual and Possible Venue: Al Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Loutheran School and Gallery Anadiel- Jerusalem Curators: Kirsten Scheid and Jack Persekian Part of Qalandiya International 2018 Jerusalem's Actual and Possible is a research-based edition of the Jerusalem Show, that mines the collections, archives and institutions accessible from Jerusalem to questions and refuse the “given present�.

This Jerusalem Show shifts from displaying art in the city to yielding knowledge about the city through art.

In this edition, I was responsible to do historical, architectural and political research for three exhibitions that address the so-called "Jerusalem Stone" each from a different perspective. The first is Life of a stonemason, an exhibition that showcases the work of Jiries Nustas (1922-2004), a master-mason from Bethlehem who took part in the repair of the Holy Sepulchre Church. The second, Analogy, is an architectural installation by AAU Anastas reinterpreting Mamluk techniques of building with stone through contemporary technologies. Finally, Stone Chains is an exhibition displaying Johny Andonia's paintings of the stones he collected from the dumpsites of Bethlehem-area quarries and assembled in compositions that resemble mountain chains. His paintings permanently represent the landscape that has vanished after quarrying.

Life of a stone mason- Jiries Nustas

Stone Chains- Johny Andonia

Analogy- AAU Anastas

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JERUSALEM SHOW IX

Research

Life of a stonemason Daqqit il-m’allim (i)b’alf ulauw shalfha shalf udaqqit il-adjir ibkaff ّ‫المعلّم بأ َ ْلف ولو َش َل ْفها َش ْلف ودَ ّقة األَجير ب َكف‬ َ ‫دَ ّقة‬ "The work (lit.: stroke) of the master-mason is worth a thousand even if he does it carelessly, while the work of the hireling deserves a slap."

Today Jerusalem rises in glittering "white" stone, merging seamlessly with surrounding settlements.

Even its sidewalks are paved in slippery limestone. This exhibition investigates local stone from the perspective of Jiries Nustas, a master-mason active during the British Mandate, through Jordanian rule, and the Israeli occupation. The exhibition includes miniature models that Nustas carved from memory after his retirement in 1986. Some of them are models of capitals that he carved for the repair of the columns in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The exhibition also presents Nustas' carving tools, some he designed for his comfort. Nustas' life and productivity highlight the challenges of stonemasonry as a practice, and its fundamental and heavily politicised status in Jerusalem's composition.

My contribution to this exhibition aimed at linking Nustas' work to the broader context of Jerusalem and its surroundings during the period of his life. I researched the historical, cultural and political role of stone from the Ottomans rule through till the ongoing Israeli occupation and published the paper Mason narrating stone. The publication refers to Tawfiq Canaan's book The Palestinian Arab House: Its Architecture and Folklore published in 1933. The book teaches us about the different types of stones quarried in Jerusalem and the Arabic names of the handtools used for stone carving. The paper also learns from Eyal Weizman's reading, in his book Hollow land (2007), of the political changes in Jerusalem and their influence on the stone practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In addition, I designed the capital podiums, prepared the caption labels and created a timeline board highlighting the major events in Jiries' life.

Nustas' hand carving tools (Areej, 2018)

Jiries on the right carving a stone capital of a column together with another mason during the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Source: Nustas' family archive

Miniatures of stone capitals hand-carved by Jiries Nustas after his retirement (Areej Ashhab,2018)

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JERUSALEM SHOW IX

Research

Analogy [Research Appendix] This paper was published as a booklet that compliments the architecture installation Analogy by AAU Anastas in the Old City of Jerusalem. It includes historical information on ,the vault 'aqd takaneh and the interlocked joggling stones. Both are old architectural techniques involved in the stone architecture of the Mamluks and The Ottomans reinterpreted in Anastas' installation.

Photo of Analogy installation

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Sample 1 from the booklet

Sample 2 from the booklet

JERUSALEM SHOW IX

Research

Joggle Jerusalem This map was published to compliment the architecture installation Analogy by AAU Anastas in the Old City of Jerusalem. It shows the location of buildings with interlocked joggling stones. The cards on the left include a picture of the joggling stones, location, architectural style and time of construction.

A fragment of the front page

A fragment of the back page

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Design

STONE GLOBE Project: Disarming Design From Palestine Create-Shop - 2015 Materials: Stone, glass, and concrete Size: 7.5*7.5*10 One hundred and one years ago, the British Mandate enacted stone-cladding regulations in Jerusalem, freezing it in time as a "precious rock" and feeding into the biblical image of the city. These regulations are still valid today in Jerusalem leading to a huge footprint of the stone industry on the landscape and the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Stone Globe is an interactive object that allows the user to symbolically reshape the mountains of Palestine by dismantling and reassembling the stones inside the globe when shaking it. Inside the glass bubble are different types of stones collected from the quarries in the West Bank- the destroyed hills that construct the stone-covered buildings of Jerusalem. While the stones are slowly floating down the globe, we're able to watch the landscape assembled in different forms each time it is shaken. The square-shaped concrete base reveals the main structural material of buildings in the area of Jerusalem masked by a thin layer of stone. The Stone Globe is inspired from snow globes of famous landmarks sold in touristic shops, however it includes no central piece on top of which the sparkles fall. The stone rather works both as the landmark and the sparkling material. This "souvenir" points out at changes and possibilities in the limited and constrained settings of Palestine. It also puts the light on the environmental issues of quarrying practices in the West Bank overshadowed by Jerusalem's holiness.

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Design

CHECKPOINT BAG Project: Disarming Design From Palestine Create-Shop - 2015 Materials: Stone, glass, and concrete Size: 7.5*7.5*10 A collaboration with Florian Mecklenburg and Monika Gruzit This backpack narrates the struggle thousands of Palestinians go through daily. It reveals the checkpoint systems that are purposely designed to make the experience as annoying as possible. The bag doesn’t simply adapt to and give up control to the system, it challenges it by empowering the person who carries it. Waiting in long lines, cramped spaces and pushing between the crowds becomes a smoother experience with the extra cushioned back. A horizontal line of pockets allows for easily accessible additional compartments. In side the bag there hides a message for the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint: the "right of return" keys (haqq al-awda), only visible under the x-ray machines. The bag becomes a symbol full of meaning, claiming the right to freedom of movement, and return to the homeland.

The front of the backpack

A simulation of holding the bag to take out objects at the checkpoint

The hidden "right of return" pattern inside the back of the backpack

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