Design is a powerful tool that can trigger the imagination and visualise the invisible potentials of a site. It can coordinate and manage the different aspects of urban life and transform them into relevant...
Design is a powerful tool that can trigger the imagination and visualise the invisible potentials of a site. It can coordinate and manage the different aspects of urban life and transform them into relevant and usable physical forms.” Dr. Omar Yousef.
This was the fourth design studio IPCC organised, where young Palestinian architects and urban planners gathered together to solve some of the challenges faced in the planning process in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem. The neighbourhoods of Jabal al Mukabber and as-Sawahreh al Gharbieh (referred to as 'Mukaber-Sawahreh') were used as case studies. The key general principle was to “Think Green” and all the design solutions were required to use green sustainable architecture.
For the last seven years, IPCC has been working with the Palestinian community in twelve neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem in order to empower the community, strengthen its sense of right to the city and to create alternative physical plans. Urban design studios have become a tool which IPCC adopted to engage students and young professionals in the planning process and to look at specific design problems faced when planning Palestinian neighbourhoods.
Mukaber-Sawahreh, is a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, located about four kilometres south of the Old City. This area was chosen as a location for many reasons: it had significant potential for development opportunities in the southern part of Jerusalem, the availability of the Kedron -Wadi en Nar- valley which is an important historical green area which connects the old city of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea through a historic-religious green path. From a design point of view, Jabal al Mukabber area offered the potential to design new projects in the vacant land, rehabilitation projects within the existing built area as well as a recreational and touristic project in the valley.
Many of the studio activities took place in the vicinity of the American Road in Mukaber-Sawahreh. The American Road has the potential to form a spine for the neighbourhood and act as a linear hub for civic, commercial and transport functions. If the road and adjacent developments were finished to a high standard there might also be the potential to exploit the proximity to other tourist centres and attractions by creating new leisure or tourist-focused spaces along its route.
