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University : Al-Quds University
Tutor(s) : Dr. Maha Saman
Project Description
Revival El-Mazar Depopulated Village By “Palestinian Collective Memories Theatre”.
The chosen village is Almazar village, it was chosen because of its unique strategic location, which is considered a higher level than the surrounding villages, overlooking other displaced villages and telling their story and Because of the value of the village’s landscape, as it is located on a hill, which the idea of an open-air theater came from, which was utilized natural Contour of the Land to Create theatre’s terraces.
In addition to its symbolic value, it was a shrine (Mazar) of one of the martyrs of the Battle of Ain Jalut. People flocked to it to visit it, but it lost its spirit and the vibrant life in it after the occupation destroyed it in 1948, and it became dead and devoid of its soul.
The project is based on the idea of reviving the village’s pulse again, restoring the symbolic value of its name as a shrine “Mazar”, through architectural intervention (the Theater of Palestinian Collective Memories), so that upon liberation, all the Palestinian people will return to meet again and tell their stories, adventures, and previous heroism stories to new generations.
The theatre elements in architectural level start with the building on the top of the hill , Inside the building :
The building is divided according to the production Phases of the Palestinian play.
The ground floor: The Zone where the characters of the main play (Palestinian society) gather, where they discuss common stories and memories and write the scenario of the play together, in addition to displays of Palestinian traditional costumes, and changing rooms for impersonating characters and playing the role of previous events. The floor contains a double-volume atrium overlooking the sky. In the middle of the atrium, there is an olive tree (memories tree) that welcomes visitors.
first floor: contains a workshop to produce the theatrical props to complete the scene : (puppets, background, etc…), which will be produced by the visitors themselves,
in addition to training rooms, rehearsal rooms for producing plays, and theatrical writing skills).
second floor: contains a gallery of all the Palestinian puppets and products from props that were made by the Palestinian community, in addition to an archive to preserve the stories and scenarios shown on stage in various events.
Basement1floor: The floor contains a closed theater located just below the amphitheater, where closed plays are held.
Outside the building, there is an open-air theater designed with natural green contours where actors act on an improvisational stage together. The landscape also contains a group of follies, which is Habitable Sculptures (Tiny The aters), consisting of a (6 x 6) modules that allows interaction with it by climbing it ,telling stories, and making small puppets plays inside.
The Old town Zone: The Old Town overlooks the open-air theater, which serves as a performance stage.
The Old Town was treated as a play of the past (before the displacement of 1948) so that the possessions of the village people would be collected and arranged in the village again as props for the play. The main characters and the families of the village would be arranged again to simulate the past as an integrated Palestinian story.
The last remaining traces of the village, which are the Urban Fabric plan on which the village was, were used as planes, carrying stories and memories from the past. Users can pass around them and read the entire scene to understand their previous stories, so that the visitor is considered as a story character, interacting with the town and its random Planes to live Previous scenes ,Past experiences, and memories.
The OverlookTower: The watchtower is made of Traditional Palestinian limestone. It is the architectural element through which stories from the history of the Palestinian people will be displayed. Each level displays Palestinian stories of different events using panoramic screens, which are displayed on the inner walls of the tower, in addition to a view From above the whole Palestinian Liberated villages!
Established in 2012, Tamayouz Excellence Award is an unaffiliated, independent initiative that aims to advance the profession of architecture academically and professionally. Tamayouz is dedicated to supporting aspirational and transformative projects that tackle local and global challenges and that are informed by a holistic understanding of context.