Architecture Through Conflict

Abstract

Architects are being restricted in exercising their profession in East Jerusalem. This is mainly the result of the Israeli-Palestine conflict which has left its mark on the built environment of the city. This study aims to determine how architects have worked within the restrictions present in East Jerusalem. Specifically, it investigates how architects have redefined their profession and went outside of the traditional boundaries in exercising their profession. To answer the question of how architects practise their profession in area of conflict, a research has been conducted into the roles of various Israeli and \ Palestinian architects. The research focussed on both their public standpoints regarding the conflict and their impact on the built environment of East Jerusalem. The result of the research has showed that architects have created new roles for themselves in which their are able to use their architectural traits to influence the design of the city by different means. They use their connection to the conflict as instigators in their fight to, once again, play an important role in shaping the city. Furthermore architects have expressed their architectural ideas through other forms that the traditional physical means. These results suggest that the architectural profession has the potential to influence much more than just the built environment. By exercising their profession in combination with other disciplines the architect is able to create architectural work that goes beyond the building or even the city. Their newly created roles have the ability to redirect the future course of the conflict, by forming public debate and removing restrictions for future architects. Their connections to other disciplines and broad use of expressing their work has turned them from single instances into architectural typologies. They can be seen as a proposition for future architects working within East Jerusalem.