Built environment professionals confront the enormity of the challenge ahead in Gaza

I have often argued that architects must engage in politics – to bring their professional skills, wider understanding, and strategic planning expertise into the narrow, blinkered corridors of parliament, where it too often seems that the only ‘vision’ worthy of attention is how to win the next election. Tuesday 19 November, at the University of Westminster (UoW), provided a reminder of why this is so important.

The group Architects for Gaza (AfG), comprising 1,000 practitioners and researchers from around the world, presented their work to date – and frankly, I was astonished. It was not just the scale of their efforts but their unflinching commitment to rebuilding amid unimaginable destruction that left such a profound impression.

Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif, co-founders of the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), explained how the project began. Tutors from the UoW school of architecture had been visiting Gaza since the so-called ‘Gaza War’ began in 2008, setting up joint projects there with local academics and practitioners, with the full support of then head of school Jeremy Till.

When the current conflict escalated over a year ago, they decided to step up this collaboration and to start looking at reconstruction: “We decided not to be silent professionals,” as Golzari put it. Among other commitments was one to refuse work that could be considered unethical in the context of the conflict.

Also at the event, media tutor and researcher Mirna Pedalo shared the inspiring story of the ‘Gaza Global University’. In response to an online call-out last December, 800 tutors and organisations from 60 countries offered free tuition to Palestinian students. The courses – mainly in architecture, planning and urban studies, but also in humanities, engineering and sciences – aimed to ensure that displaced students could continue their education, even from tents in refugee camps, and eventually rejoin certified courses in Gaza.

Since the word went out in January this year, an extraordinary 41,000 students have signed up – 90% in Gaza

It is currently expanding by working with West Bank universities. Since the word went out in January this year, an extraordinary 41,000 students have signed up – 90% in Gaza – and are able to continue their studies in the most challenging circumstances.

Yara Sharif said the projects being set up by AfG are to offer hope in the face of the “intentional erasure” of buildings and infrastructure in Gaza, 80% of which has already been destroyed. She explained the process of “deep mapping” to discover what is left, to rebuild from the “ruins and remains” so that history is retained. Gaza must be treated in an “unconventional” way, she stated, and by working as a collective with local architects, planners and politicians can “challenge the bleak canvas … and … combat colonialism”.

A video from Yahya Sarraj, mayor of Gaza, offered a stark reminder of the context. Audible bomb blasts in the background underscored the gravity of his words: “This is the practice of resilience and hope. We must redevelop Gaza as a modern, clever, resilient and stronger city.”

Despite intermittent power and poor signal, live interviews with Maher Salem, director of planning for the Platform for Reconstruction of Gaza, and Farid Al-Qeeq, from the Islamic University of Gaza’s school of architecture, brought home the immediate priorities. Salem emphasised the desperate need for reliable and clean water supplies, describing the restoration of water lines as an act of giving life itself. “We will rebuild all our infrastructure better than before,” he said. “Together we will rise, together we will rebuild.”

Al-Qeeq outlined the three stages of early recovery: addressing infrastructure, health needs, food supply and shelter. The scale of the challenge was daunting but his determination – and that of his colleagues – was palpable.

The lasting peace and reconstruction, of course, will only be achieved by good-faith politics

Among other presentations was one relating to the restoration of the Sheikh Radwa Lagoon in the north of Gaza City, once flowing with clean natural water, now “full of poo”, as described by architect Cezary Bednarski, who is working on this with New York-based architect Alberto Foyo. “This is an engineering project, not design,” they explained, as they have just begun working on early plans to assess the physical state of the man-made lagoon and potential costs to restore it.

Marion Roberts, professor emeritus of urban design at UoW, and architect Adam Khan discussed their plans for a cultural, sports, and recreation complex on the site of a badly damaged sports centre, currently in use as a refugee camp. They hope to focus the sports provision on women, who are rarely prioritised, and to create a family-friendly centre with a park, picnic areas, and events for all ages. The intention is to complete all planning stages in advance to begin construction swiftly when conditions allow.

All these visionary and optimistic plans do, of course, depend on an actual end to the current conflict and a return of the land of Gaza to the control of the Palestinian people. This can only take place alongside essential financial reparations to pay for reconstruction, not only of the built environment, but also of the culture and society that Palestinians have currently lost along with so many lives.

I hesitate to predict what may happen next, as my heart breaks for the unspeakable daily losses, human and material, of this extraordinary and creative people, whose current plight has inspired support in so many and varied ways. The free and extraordinary support of a generation of professors, doctors and researchers from Gaza and around the world is a testament to human resilience – and to the power of collective effort to overcome even the darkest of times.

The lasting peace and reconstruction, of course, will only be achieved by good-faith politics – something so lacking in so many of the current generation of politicians, but which we so desperately need.

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