Rethinking Israeli checkpoint

  • The project aims to rethink the occupation architecture after Palestinian independence. Thus, after analysis and study of the history of checkpoints in Palestine, Bethlehem checkpoint (‘Gilo 300) was chosen as location for this project. In order to reach a new vision for the checkpoint, intensive social and physical analysis was required.
  • It is an response to culture of occupation and creating facts on the ground in order to expropriate more Palestinian land.
  • The bridge is a fluid idea in which people are envisioned going in and coming out,i.e., A back and forth free movement of people giving a sense that although the wall is there, you dont see it.
  • Building systems were integrated in a service core that was connected to the master space through a mixed system of a raised floor and false facade
  • The building should be accessible to the public and welcoming with images that are prominent and intense, thus communicating ‘I am here to stay’ theme; constant, yet evolving with time.
  • Site plan
  • A back and forth free movement of people giving a sense that although the wall is there, you dont see it.
  • It is important to have an architectural project that preserves the memory of the place while providing useful functions for the present as well as the future.
  • "It is important to have an architectural project that preserves the memory of the place while providing useful functions for the present as well as the future". Abdallah Hammad
  • The Engineering day

The project aims to rethink the occupation architecture after Palestinian independence. Thus, after analysis and study of the history of checkpoints in Palestine, Bethlehem checkpoint (‘Gilo 300) was chosen as location for this project.

 
The social and physical analysis illustrates the real problems that the checkpoint and the separation wall causes to the city of Bethlehem, whether in the physical planning of the city or in the accessibility and connectivity of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Furthermore the checkpoint and the wall work as a segregation tool between the communities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem and the communities within Bethlehem itself. At the end of the first phase of the analysis, a new vision was introduced as a response to all the factors and needs of the space. The checkpoint is transformed to Bethlehem Gate which includes a transportation hub, a public market, and a park that serves Bethlehem and neighboring areas.

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