Adam Joshua Fan / "The Thin Grey Line" / Masters of Architecture Thesis

The University of Melbourne Masters of Architecture

THE THIN GREY LINE: The Home As A Psychological Space of Self-Sabotage and Hopelessness

Thesis Project by:

Adam Joshua Fan

Thesis Studio 10 it will not be over until we talk

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THESIS STATEMENT:

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This thesis investigates the psychological ramifications of Palestinian laborers employed to construct illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Specifically, this thesis will ask three main questions: (a) How do political and military processes collide with domestic tropes? (b) In what ways are Palestinian laborers subjected to control and dehumanization? (c) Is decolonization possible in the context of illegal settlements in the West Bank?

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The sum of these inquiries will culminate with a final project that speculates whether it is possible for Palestinians to imagine a state of domesticity that Israeli's currently live with; Or simply put: Even in dreams, can Palestinians dream freely of an ideal domicile?

350m

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gth m len 1.96k

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OCCUPIED Gilo Settlement

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Central Division Line

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PALESTINE Beit Jala, Bethlaham

Lines have metastasized in the West Bank. The lines hug each other atop the hills and establish settlements for Isreali settlers.

Settlements are constantly visible to Palestinian towns beneath them, and new barriers are constructed to protect them from potential violent events. Although eighty percent of settlers claim that they moved for non-ideological reasons, the mechanisms of the settlements produce an ideological effect.

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King of the Hill

45cm

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Flight Path: Fruit Fly

+ 0.00m Israeli Settlement: Tiled Ground Floor

Concrete is the most used material in Palestine. Almost every wall is made from concrete. For Israel, concrete is used to create space while for Palestine, concrete is used to remove space. The wall between the living room of an Israeli Settlement and its backyard is a political boundary. Does a crack in a window mean a crack in the political boundary? Can a fruit fly that has flown into the kitchen of a settlement symbolize a break down of the wall?

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A Political Boundary In The Domestic

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30cm

+ 0.00m Central Division Line

- 0.02m Yellow Jerusalem Stone Cladding

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+ 0.33m Interior Plaster Wall

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+ 3.60m Israeli Settlement: Tiled First Floor

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+ 3.30m Israeli Settlement: Ground Floor Ceiling

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The Facades Outside and Inside 7 Despite its overwhelming presence, concrete is never to be seen in the domestic interior and exterior of an Israeli Settlement. The exterior facade is mostly hidden behind a wall of Yellow Jerusalem Stone; a material that is symbolically embedded in the history and aesthetics of the locale. The interior surfaces are also facades that disguises the material beneath. A rupture of the facade may disturb the fragile stability of settlements in the West Bank.

Weizman, Eyal. 2012. Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture Of Occupation. 1st ed. London: Verso.

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OCCUPIED Gilo Settlement

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Central Division Line

PALESTINE Beit Jala, Bethlaham s

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Set th Sou

The Bethlaham Bypass

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Where there are roads there are settlements. Highway 60 is the lifeline of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. New highways are constructed to shorten the distance between settlements and Israeli territories, as well as seperate settlers and Palestinians on the road to avoid conflict. These new roads traverse beyond the horizontal: they float above and dig into Palestinian grounds, which adds a new vertical dimension of division within the land.

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Towards South: Israeli Settlements

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Towards North: Jerusalem

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AA + 3.00m Protective Fence Towards Beit Jala

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+ 0.00m Highway 60: Asphalt Road

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- 3.00m Bridge to Column Connection

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AA

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- 25.50m Line of Division: Israel-Palestine

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“The Bethlaham Bypass”

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+ 0.00m Israeli Settlement: Tiled Ground Floor

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The Home of Mu’taz Ibrahim Khalil Hijazi 2 Demolishing the homes of Palestinians that have attacked Israeli patrols has been a long standing occurrence in the West Bank.

However, the removal of these homes also removes the physical evidence that such people existed, as well as the actions that led to their punishment. Israel has developed a new punishment called “concrete sealing” where the room of the accused, or the whole home is sealed by pouring concrete into the house.

Delso, Rodrigo. 2018. “Concrete Punishment: Time, Architecture And Art As Weapons In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”. Political Geography 66: 57-66.

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Concrete As a Remover of Space 2 The much needed quantities of concrete Palestine requires for construction are controlled by Israeli authorities. If a physical thing is defined by its function, then concrete for Palestine means the remover of space and life. Thousands of square meters of Palestinian homes have been flooded with concrete, which becomes neither space for both sides. The act functions as a memorial of crime and punishment for the West Bank.

Delso, Rodrigo. 2018. “Concrete Punishment: Time, Architecture And Art As Weapons In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”. Political Geography 66: 57-66.

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2

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+ 0.00m Israeli Settlement: Tiled Ground Floor

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Domesticity Set in Stone 2 People are swiftly evicted and concrete pours quickly into the home. There is no time to pack, and most of the house remains as it was lived. Towels still hung and dirty dishes in the lay in the sink: the life of the home is set into stone. The result is an oddly beautiful, yet horrific act of violence which immortalizes an ordinary location with ordinary objects within it.

Delso, Rodrigo. 2018. “Concrete Punishment: Time, Architecture And Art As Weapons In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”. Political Geography 66: 57-66.

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25km

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Jenin

Tubas

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Tulkarm

Nablus Qalqilya

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Salfit

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Jericho

EAST JERUSALEM

SITE

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BETHLAHEM

AREA A: Full civic and security control by Palestine Authority

Hebron

AREA B: Joint security control by Israel-Palestine forces

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AREA C: Full civic and security control by Israel

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SITE - State of Palestine - Present Day, 2021

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35*19’00’’E

35*18’30’’E

35*18’00’’E

35*17’30’’E

35*17’00’’E

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35*15’30’’E

SITE

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Highway 1 Highway 1

12 minute drive to Jerusalem, Israel

PALESTINE alZa’im, Jersusalem

3.85km length OCCUPIED Ma’ale Adumim

PALESTINE al-Eizariya, Jersusalem

PALESTINE Jahalin, Jersusalem

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Highway 1

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PALESTINE Abu Dis, Jersusalem

5.87km to Jerusalem, Israel

1.63km width

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SITE - Ma’ale Adumim Settlement - Founded in September 21st, 1975

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New Developments (Under Construction)

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SITE 53 Ha-Gilgal St

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Children's Park

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SITE - Mitspe Nevo District - Expanded in the 1990s

m 5.5

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4:30AM Settlement Security Checkpoint Palestinian workers climb the metal bars to cut the queue for passage into settlements, seeking construction opportunities

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PRE-CONSTRUCTION

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2:05PM Settlement Construction Site Grabbing the protruding rebar for balance, at the edge of the first floor slab

CONSTRUCTION

Bright Hot Afternoon Sunlight The piercing afternoon sun heats the steel rebars at the construction site, while blistered fingers clasp them for balance

3:35PM Settlement Children’s Park Israeli Children hold on to the metal bars of a jungle gym, chasing each other in a game of cops and robbers

POST-OCCUPANCY

Afternoon Sunlight Filtered Through Leaves Aboves The park is populated with large trees, providing comfortable shade during the bright afternoon playtime.

SITE - The Affect of Materials 8 - Current Day 36

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Griffiths, M. and Repo, J., 2018. Biopolitics and checkpoint 300 in occupied Palestine: Bodies, affect, discipline. Political Geography, 65, pp.17-25.

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Dim Fluorescent White Lighting Dark environment before dawn, anxious bodies constantly bumping into one another, fighting for space

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4m

28.50m length

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51 Ha-Gilgal st

North

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B

15.50m width

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SITE

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53 Ha-Gilgal St

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55 Ha-Gilgal st

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SITE - 53 Ha-Gilgal - Current condition

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(Detail A)

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INDEX of Site Conditions* (Detail A) A Noticable Gap: Driving around the streets of the settlement, the landscape beyond is rather difficult to encounter since houses endlessly abutt one another: A wall within the wall. The disappeared home punctures the wall and reveals the valleys of the West Bank. The condition of the empty lot - the scattering of abandoned materials and trash - justapose the idyllic cleanliness of the Ma’ale Adumim Settlement.

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*All images are sourced online from Google Maps

1.0m

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Detail C

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Property Boundary

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Detail C

Traces of the lost home are scattered across the slope of the site: crushed concrete blocks, bent rebars, fallen tiles, and remnants of concrete foundations. From the edge of the street, the implication of the ghosted driveway is imprinted on the pedestrian footpath, where the car port would have been located. Despite its disappearance, the house still affects the street of the settlement.

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INDEX of Site Conditions (Detail B) The Ghosted Driveway

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Property Boundary

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30cm

30cm

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30cm

30cm

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Stone Tile Wall Elevation

Israeli settlements adamantly disguises concrete surfaces, most often with Yellow Jerusalem Stone tiles that reference traditional Israeli architecture.

The consistancy of this tile being used in settlements is not only an aesthetic implementation, but literally attempts to expand Jerusalem beyond the city itself, across the West Bank. The missing home reveals the concrete structure beneath the property boundary wall it shares with the neighboring homes on either side of it.

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INDEX of Site Conditions (Detail C) The Naked Backside:

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North

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Through small gaps in the timber boundary fence, we can vaguely observe rhythms of rebars piercing through the dirt slope. Some rebars are straight, while others are bent and damaged. The existence of these thin steel bars suggest the possibility that a concrete foundation remains intact below the dirt. We can understand an invisible home with these fragments of structure. I know that this is an intersection of a corner. The wall heads North one way and West the other way, enclosing a room that faces the backyard.

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INDEX of Site Conditions (Detail D) Evidence of Structures

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INDEX of Real Homes in Ma'ale Adumim 26

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"Hameitzadim - Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel". 2021. RE/MAX Israel. https://www.remax-israel.com/en/listings/house/for-sale/maaleh-adumim/831811001-314.

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(A) The Home Office: Unwanted moisture trapped in the hidden vacuum between structure and plaster, causing darkened spots that grow rapidly.

(B) The Living Room: Broken pots, crushed flowers, and fractured fences are dramatic acts of violence upon the pure pleasures of gardening.

(C) The Dining Room: Weeds can grow just about anywhere. Water trapped within walls birth weeds that can pierce through skirting boards.

(D) The Bed Room: Poor grout mixtures, broken seals, and heat expansion can casue exterior tiles to crash below.

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INDEX of Real Homes in Ma'ale Adumim 27

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"Nofei Haselah – Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel". 2021. RE/MAX Israel. https://global.remax.com/en/listings/israel/garden-apartment/for-sale/maaleh-adumim/831811001-326.

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(A) The Home Office: Unwanted moisture trapped in the hidden vacuum between structure and plaster, causing darkened spots that grow rapidly.

(B) The Living Room: Broken pots, crushed flowers, and fractured fences are dramatic acts of violence upon the pure pleasures of gardening.

(C) The Dining Room: Weeds can grow just about anywhere. Water trapped within walls birth weeds that can pierce through skirting boards.

(D) The Bed Room: Poor grout mixtures, broken seals, and heat expansion can casue exterior tiles to crash below.

talk we until

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(2)

(3)

(Column B)

(Column C)

(Column D)

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(Column A)

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INDEX of Real Homes in Ma'ale Adumim* (A) The Home Office: Unwanted moisture trapped in the hidden vacuum between structure and plaster, causing darkened spots that grow rapidly.

(B) The Living Room: Broken pots, crushed flowers, and fractured fences are dramatic acts of violence upon the pure pleasures of gardening.

(C) The Dining Room: Weeds can grow just about anywhere. Water trapped within walls birth weeds that can pierce through skirting boards.

(D) The Bed Room: Poor grout mixtures, broken seals, and heat expansion can casue exterior tiles to crash below.

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*All images are sourced online from unknown authors (unless referenced otherwise)

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(2)

(3)

(Column F)

(Column G)

(Column H)

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(Column E)

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INDEX of Real Homes in Ma'ale Adumim* (E) The Hobby Room: Unwanted moisture trapped in the hidden vacuum between structure and plaster, causing darkened spots that grow rapidly.

(F) The Outdoor Room: Broken pots, crushed flowers, and fractured fences are dramatic acts of violence upon the pure pleasures of gardening.

(G) Compression Spaces: Weeds can grow just about anywhere. Water trapped within walls birth weeds that can pierce through skirting boards.

(H) Odd Arrangements: Poor grout mixtures, broken seals, and heat expansion can casue exterior tiles to crash below.

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*All images are sourced online from unknown authors (unless referenced otherwise)

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Property Boundary

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+ 3.60m

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+ 20m drop to Palestinian ground

The SITE: The Construction - Completion - and Post-Occupancy of a Settlement Home Sitting on the edge of a new Israeli settlement, the site of this thesis is confined to a single property of a four bedroom settler home. Like many settlements, the houses are a stark juxtaposition to the surrounding Palestinian context - a fortress of identical homes atop of a hill.

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(Detail B)

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Property Boundary

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Property Boundary

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The SITE: The Construction - Completion - and Post-Occupancy of a Settlement Home The idyllic visage of the home was built by the hands of Palestinian men: Concrete mixers, formwork builders, brick layers, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, painters, gardeners, and many more. During every step of the construction process, the traces of the men that built this home are not only accidentally inflicted onto the skeleton of the home, but perhaps certain traces are made through deliberate actions by these nameless men.

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(Detail A)

51 Ha-Gilgal st

15.50m width

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4m

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28.50m length

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C

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55 Ha-Gilgal st

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SITE - 53 Ha-Gilgal - Basement Floor Plan

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Detail A - Sunrise - The Tulip Garden

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Perspective 1

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50cm

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White Fence (To Be Completed)

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Detail A - Ideal The Tulip Garden The Yellow tulip garden is an important domestic passion of the house wife of this particular home. The bright yellow hue of the flower bulbs match perfectly with the Yellow Jerusalem stone facade of her new home. She makes additional effort to constantly remind her children not to play soccer too close to the tulips, or else they shall expect a fury of fire from their formidable mother. She tells her husband that they should install a protective white fence so that the kids won’t accidentally hurt her flowers with their ball 46

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Detail A - Sabotaged The Tulip Garden The housewife is devastated. Over the course of one week, the glorious Yellow Jerusalem Stone tiles started to fall off of the adhesive grout, which have damaged the tulip garden beneath her bedroom window. The void surfaces where the stone tiles once were reveal cracks in the grout - suggesting that the mixture had been tampered with. Not even the recently erected white picket fence could protect her beautiful flowers.

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+ 0.00m

Perspective 1

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But I couldn't help but feel watched, as if there were eyes looking at me in the empty armchair. I thought I hear the faint sounds of my grandmother, but I think it was just the wind. The stone tiles started to seem like they were suspended, rather than fixed firmly onto the grout work. The floor boards squeaked as if they were wet with liquid.

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Detail B - Sunrise The Master Bedroom

30cm

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+ 3.25m Balcony Drain Pipe (Sabotaged)

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+ 1.20m Tie Rod Sealing (Sabotaged)

+ 0.45m Tie Rod Sealing (Detail B-3)

Detail B - Sabotaged The Master Bedroom On the other side of the Tulip Garden rests the parents of the home. Their Master Bedroom is immersed in natural light during all times of the day, thanks to the large wide windows that face the open valleys beyond their backyard. Without their knowledge, their bedroom is under going severe water damage everytime the house wife hoses down the balcony above the room, which needs to be cleaned every few days because of the sand and dust particles carried by the wind.

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7cm

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(Detail B-1)

(Detail B-1)

Detail B - Sabotaged The Master Bedroom The dust infused water runs into the drain at the edge of the balcony, seemingly eliminated from the domain of the home. At the rounded connecting joint between the vertical and horizontal pipes, the connector has been sabotaged during its installation - allowing small drops of water to leaky out of the gaps between pipes. The leak runs along the walls of the concrete structure and the edges of the plasterboard of the bedroom. Overtime, mold begins to grow in the membrane of the board.

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(Detail B-1)

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Detail D - Sunrise - The Leak

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Perspective 1

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28.50m length

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North

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51 Ha-Gilgal st

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15.50m width

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F

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55 Ha-Gilgal st

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SITE - 53 Ha-Gilgal - Ground Floor Plan

Perspective 1

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The sound of an icetray dropping on the kitchen floor was deafening loud, like a wall being knocked down. I felt the ground shake with force and the chandeliers sway above me. The scattering of the cube across the marble floor looked eeriely familiar. The way they had fallen and lay sideways on the ground. I began to see things happening to the house, with each room containing a event that I didn't want to look at.

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Detail D - Midday The Kitchen

Perspective 1

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Detail E - The Office (From Left to Right) 1. Amendment No. 163 - Revoking child allowances from parents of children convicted of security offenses

5. Amendment No. 10 - Land (Acquisition for Public Purposes) Ordinance

2. New Law - "Anti-Terror" (Counter-Terrorism) Law

6. Amendment No. 20 to the Youth (Care and Supervision) Law - Fines on parents of stone-throwers

3. Amendment No. 120 to the Israeli Penal Code - Mandatory minimum sentences for convicted stone-throwers

7. PA Press Release - Amazon discrimination towards Palestinian Territories

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4. Amendment No. 4 - "Negev Individual Settlements" - Negev Development Authority Law

Perspective 1

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I began to see things happening to the house, with each room containing an event that I didn't want to look at. The room that resembled an office was in disarray from a crack of the window. Gusts of wind blew strongly into the room, causing dozens of paper to twirl in the room. The piano room behind me let out the terrible sound of a stone crashing through the glass pane. Dead leaves and brown sand began drifting into the room.

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Detail F - Afternoon The Piano Room

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Detail G - Sunset - The Dining Room

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Perspective 1

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Detail H - Sunset - The Obelisk

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Perspective 1

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Detail I - Sunset - The Balcony

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Perspective 1

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Perspective 1

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I walked back to the master bedroom, which is now covered with dark water and floating pieces of plastic and wood. Everything had become wrapped in plastic sheets and the sun was beginning to set. My legs felt heavy and slow in the water. I don't rememeber the last time I saw a body of water. I had to move upstairs.

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Detail B - Sunset The Bedroom Flooded

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Detail K - Night - The Attic

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Perspective 1

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1.5m

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- 0.10m Israeli Settlement: Lawn Sprinkler System

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(Detail A)

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- 2.35m Fertile Patch

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- 6.50m West Bank: Settlement Drainage Outlet

+ 0.00m Central Division Line

A Centre Retreats. Where Identity is Open Onto Plurality 1

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1

Darwish, Mahmoud. “Who Am I, Without Exile?” The Butterfly’s Burden. Copper Canyon Press, 2006

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The structures of division are limited by the processes of architectural practicality. The impenetrable 6m concrete wall contains clandestine passages of drainage that connect two worlds as one. Flowing water defeats precast concrete. The water used within the wall for the maintainence of green manicured lawns seep through the soil and fill to eventually reach the other side: creating a small tear-shaped patch of hydrated ground. Grass and flowers grow as the margins of water advance past the wall.

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(Detail A)

Where East is Not Strictly East, And West is Not Strictly West 1

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Darwish, Mahmoud. “Who Am I, Without Exile?” The Butterfly’s Burden. Copper Canyon Press, 2006

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The blossoming of flowers and grass occur where ever conditions are right, regardless of any man-made boundary or division. Water follows the forces of gravity; it can be diverted, but it has to end up somewhere. Since the natural operates beyond the realm of politics, it has the power to empower those that are constrained by politics.

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Detail L - Sunrise - Beyond The Wall