Context
17
Context
Since 1991 Riwaq has acted as the leading agency for architectural conservation in the areas of the West Bank outside of the main metropolitan centres such as Ramallah, Hebron or Nablus. As such, it has offered itself as an important conduit for the sustenance of historic buildings and urban centres in Palestine. Riwaq’s National Register, carried out from 1994 to 2003, is the only national list that documents old buildings across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, the urgency for critical forms of architectural thinking, as prompted by the political and social conditions in Palestine today, is propelling Riwaq to become increasingly ambitious. Riwaq now realises that newer and more experimental approaches to architecture and urban design, such as those provided by PART, are necessary to embrace all of the available social, cultural, economic and natural resources. While it is extremely difficult to tackle the renovation of the entire Palestinian built heritage – which, according to Riwaq’s register, amounts to 50,320 historic properties in 422 sites across the West Bank and Gaza Strip – Riwaq was able to prioritise 50 towns and villages for conservation. Regenerating those villages would lead to the effective protection of around 50 per cent of the historic buildings which still exist in Palestine. Hence the 50 Villages project holds the potential to generate new lifestyle patterns within the West Bank in which these parts of the old historic fabric act as
rural and peri-urban ‘bridges’ to overcome the isolation of inhabitants by linking them directly to the largest urban clusters. [fig. 6–8] Riwaq’s decision to focus on Birzeit as the pilot for the 50 Villages project was based on Birzeit’s geographical location and the urgency of its situation as an important university town. Its historic centre consists of irregular winding clusters of one- or two-storey traditional houses with shallow domed roofs and stone walls. Despite their cultural and aesthetic wealth, many had fallen into a chronic state of disrepair and as such were sparsely populated. There are a number of new houses built with reinforced-concrete frames and rendered blockwork walls that have been inserted into the historic fabric in a seemingly ad hoc and often ugly manner. The old centre also had a very poor road and servicing infrastructure for those few families who were still living there. Thus the process of devising a novel regeneration strategy for Birzeit began by posing some critical questions for discussion with ThinkNet members. How could PART, working for Riwaq, create a successful balance between building protection, development, comfort and aesthetics? Which parts of the historic centre were most important to retain and refurbish, and how could these be socially and economically regenerated? Should one try to encourage the relocation of surrounding Palestinian businesses or Birzeit University to this derelict district,