I Come From This City

‫‪I COME FROM THIS CITY | HIBA BANNA‬‬ ‫פרט חומר הנדסה וטכנולוגיה אד' דוד רובינס‪ ,‬אד' עמית נמליך‪ ,‬אד' גיא אוסטרן‬

‫פרוייקט גמר ‪2015‬‬ ‫הפקולטה לארכיטקטורה‬ ‫ובינוי ערים בטכניון‬

INDEX PHOENOMENON AND CASE-STUDY

9

RESEARCH QUESTION

18

THEORETICAL ENVIRONMENT

25

METHODOLOGY

31

PRECEDENTS

37

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS: PLANNING SITE 41 BIBLIOGRAPHY

58

PHOENOMENON AND CASE STUDY

Nazareth is considered the largest Arab City in Israel, it has about 73600 resident, 69.5% Muslims, and 30.5% Christians, in an area of 14 square kilometres.

Nazareth is considered the capital of the Galile, it attracts 100,000 visitors every year, it’s attractive to arabs, jews and tourists as a culinary destination, a commercial centre and a place full of culture and historical Ottoman buildings.

After the establishment of the state of Israel the identity of Arab inhabitants has been split, maintaining the Palestinian identity, yet adopting Israeli citizenship. There were 1500 inhabitants in Nazareth in the Ottoman period with 68% Christians, in 1948 a lot of refugees came to Nazareth and the ratio changed to 60% Muslims and it grew to be the biggest Arab City within the State of Israel’s borders. “In the process of developing official planning tools for Nazareth, the Israeli government named the streets of the city by anonymous numbers while the city’s inhabitants continue operating by the collective memory of unofficial street names. New neighbourhoods for refugees from all over the region were built with inadequate planning tools, lacking basic infrastructure such as roads, collective spaces, public buildings and more and soon turned into poor and underdeveloped parts of the city” (Verbakel, Els 2012) Arab localities in Israel have lost the image of the space that combines culture,

nationalism and modernisation. arabic localities in Israel appear in urban studies as mixed-use cities, however in fact there are mostly only residential buildings that are barely enough to the current population.(Verbakel, Els 2012) .Today, when we think about the Arab City that combines or tries to integrate these three components straight comes up to our minds the name of the city Nazareth that is a cultural, economic and political centre, but unfortunately external factors (such as the disability to expand the city’s borders, the lack of investment in the public spaces etc.) bring the city to internal contradictions, such as the mismatch between the current/past infrastructure and the future development of the city’s services, and the increasing density. Most land is owned by churches and Israel land authorities which made it hard for inhabitants and for initiators to develop new urban visions “open spaces that exist within the dense urban fabric as enclosed inner courtyards and walled gardens, an urban condition where open collective spaces exist on private property, owned by tradesmen, churches and mosques” (Verbakel, Els 2012), this issue led sometimes to conflicts into the city. For example the series of urban design projects that have been initiated by the Israeli government and the local municipality re-imagining the city’s collective spaces, which

have disregarded the city’s characteristics, these spaces have become the stage for political and religious conflicts that led to violence. The Nazareth 2000 plan proposed a redesign including an area for outdoor events. The proposed design provided a central square for the city both for inhabitants and visitors, and an entrance square to the old city. However it led to a conflict between Muslims and Christians because of a land authorities issue.

This conflict left a foreign open space that doesn’t continue the city’s fabric.

These factors prevent the city from developing, reduce economic opportunities and narrow the possibilities for urban framework that can be offered both to the inhabitants of Nazareth itself and to the villages that are considered in its province. The cultural, historical and religious values that are inherent in the city are rich and important and they give it a great potential in order to promote the city and the development of economic, touristic, etc., opportunities. The historic value is clearly reflected in the built environment, in its architecture combining different eras and a variety of styles and languages.

Historical public spaces stand nowadays as iconic figures they still add magic to the city and give a hint of the past.

Mary’s Well, an open space that used to serve the city as the main water source for several centuries,it was a meeting and news exchanging point for women who arrived to fill water. Nowadays it’s a neglected open space that doesn’t serve much to the city.

Khan El Basha, Khan in Persian means a motel or inn, Khan El Basha is one of five khans in Nazareth and it’s the biggest. It was built at the entrance to Nazareth and it’s consisted of a large yard surrounded by domed rooms on three sides, the fourth side is a curved colonnade.

Nowadays it’s used for offices and it’s scheduled for conservation.

The ancient bath house (hammam), it has been dated to the Roman era, it used to be a public meeting point for mainly health activities it also included food and drinking activities as well as parties and shows.

The Old City Market, architectural buildings of housing and trade from the Ottoman era with narrow alleys passing between them. It was divided to markets according to the trade type such as the brides market, the carpenters market, the vegetables market, the gold market , etc.

Nowadays it’s still functioning as a market but not with the same pace.

The Piazza Orthodessa, its kind of an open space that belongs to the Orthodox church near Mary’s Well. It contains a lot of fine restaurants and bars that local people happen to hang around at them quite a lot, the piazza itself hosts almost all the religious events, the festivals and even the big funerals. It's quite an active space all year.

Lately the Big Fashion Mall was added to the few public spaces of Nazareth. the mall is designed in a way that it’s not totally interred and it give a hint of the narrow alleys of the old market, “the complex provides a welltempered neutral environment of exchange for visitors from different cultural, religious, ethnic backgrounds, the design of the space remains limited as self-sufficient enclosed and introvert environment.the complex does not relate to its immediate or remote urban context” (Verbakel, Els 2012) The successful public spaces in Nazareth are the ones surrounded by architectural masses, building that give the space a feeling of relevance and safety. Usually these public figures include food or shopping related functions.

“Walking through the souq just a week before Easter, it’s not difficult to notice the abundance of abandoned homes and closed shops as well as the struggling owners of the shops that do remain open. Undoubtedly, the condition of the souq is very bad and only getting worse. Ahmed Ali al-Saidi, also known as Abu Ali, is one of the older shop owners and has witnessed the souq disintegrate before his eyes.

Originally from the village of Saffouriya and having owned 70 dunams of land in the village, he remains an internally displaced refugee living in the old souq of Nazareth. He explained that previously, at this time during Easter there would hardly be room to walk in the souq. Nazareth’s souq was the city center and people from surrounding villages would come to buy clothes and other gifts before Easter.

Abu Ali spoke of a friend of his that had eight stores in the souq, of which all are now closed.

According to Abu Ali, “The town of Nazareth was divided and planned on paper following the establishment of the Israeli State, but this plan would take place in a slow process until its end goal was eventually realized.” Having worked in construction before moving and opening his shop in the souq, Abu Ali was unaware that the building he was working on would house the municipality of Nazareth Illit 25 years later. Two years after Nazareth Illit was founded in 1954, the first settlers arrived in line with the government plan of “Judaizing the Galilee” to safeguard the “Jewish character” of the Israeli state. In 1954, despite protests from Palestinians, the first 1,200 dunams of land were expropriated from Palestinians, supported by laws that permitted the government to declare land a military zone and seize control of it for “security reasons.” In 1957 Nazareth Illit was built as a development town, officially being established in 1962 and continuing to grow and attract Jewish immigrants and large industries” (Bro, Christine 2008)

In the last 10 to 15 years, the major businesses and hotels have moved up to Nazareth Illit, now home to 40,000 Jewish settlers and a few wealthy Arabs, essentially killing the once prosperous businesses in the old souq.

Abu Amer, who owns a bakery in the souq, passionately explained that “the simple people are abused by all, by the government and the rich man, and nobody cares about our situation. It is all about self-interest and profits. For us in the souq, the human being and the collective is the highest capital, but for the rich people, money is their sacrosanct capital and end goal.” One of the residents in the souq who moved there to protect its unique character and history, Firas Helou, maintains that “for the government, big businesses and the municipality that all work hand in hand, preserving and protecting the souq is viewed not from a social and historical perspective, but strictly economical, and for them investing in the souq is not economically beneficial.”

The constant neglect of the souq has also given it a bad reputation that it is dangerous at night. Tourists are warned to watch their bags, purses and wallets

and as such, walking through the souq at night, one feels they are in a dead city.

Firas Helou explains that “the souq today is actually safer, more personal and secure than before.” He also added that “the municipality gives no encouragement for people to move back to the souq nor invest in it, and basic services such as electricity, water and the sewage remain [in an] awful state.” (Bro, Christine 2008) Nazareth is a spiritual and cultural centre also in international dimensions and this requires solving urban problems that make it difficult for the city to reflect its potential both for tourism and the daily life of the inhabitants. One of the biggest problems is the absence of convenient access of routes to various sites in the city, especially when it comes to sites in the Old City. Out of this problem comes out the motive to create a new urban axis based on existing hinges and try to improve the details that have made them less practical and neglected over time either by residents and by tourists who do not even know they exist.

A FULL MAP OF NAZARETH 1946

RESEARCH QUESTION

what existing potential is there in Nazareth, and how can I turn it into an urban revolution that reveals the inner beauty of Nazareth

One of the urban motifs in the city is the very steep topography, on one hand its very difficult to find a comfortable footpath for pedestrians in the city, causing them to use a vehicle to get anywhere which makes the undeveloped roads full while they were already packed because of the inter-urban roads that are connected to the main road. On the other hand the unique way of the city expanding radically and the steep topography together have created a lot of interesting, unique and dynamic in-between spaces, routes and shortcuts system which are made as alternative routes for pedestrians mostly to get from point to point efficiently in the old city specifically.

The City Centre \ old town is in the middle and in the lowest region from which the city has evolved over time with the topography

OLD CITY

In 2000, there was a plan to refresh the city due to the Pope's visit, but it did not happen — the planning was good but the matter of Nazareth becoming a tourist centre only was not a good idea and because of internal political problems covered in religion as well. This indicates that Nazareth should not be put under only one category, in order to develop the city it should be categorised as a tourist and also a metropolitan city in its environment.

"30-40 percent of the old properties in the old city had been abandoned — including the Azar home — as people left the confines of the narrow streets and old buildings for homes in the newer neighbourhoods with better infrastructure and car access. Many tourists troop through the city to visit the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation and then quickly march to the other end of town to visit the Greek Orthodox Church by Mary’s Well, without ever stopping to look around them and really see Nazareth, he says “They stay for half an hour and don’t see what we see. They don’t benefit from the city and they don’t give back”, he says “Nazareth is not a picture-postcard town. It is life and you have to see it, experience it and learn it.”

Nazareth is not just about Christian sites; it is about an authentic beautiful Arab City” (ISRAEL21c Staff 2008)

My ambition is: - Try to find a solution for the walkability of the city - Give visitors \ tourists a reason to stay and spend time investigating the town - To highlight the inner beauty of the rich history and culture and revive the city centre

THEORETICAL ENVIRONMENT

I chose to examine further one route that passes through the Old Town area up to the highest area of Nazareth - Salesian in one continuous track for pedestrians and splits into many small paths that lead to many more areas in the Old City and other neighbours as well as public services. It is about 750 meters length, climbing about 100 meters up and you can go through it in 15 minutes by walking. In order to develop the urban axis an ideological system should be done as a basis for the program.

The idea behind the axis is: - Connecting between the highest and the lowest area of the ​​ city - To create interaction between tourists and the city res i dents through the creation of common public spaces. “Public Spaces encompass a wide array of spaces, from old historic centers to suburban developments. Their form, uses and maintenance raise a host of important questions regarding urban planning from the local to the metropolitan scale” (Tonnelat, S. 2010) - Old Town revitalisation through making it more accessible and attractive - This route will help the city to become a target for tourist accommodation and to make their visit a collective experience that includes not only the Churches and historic sites, but also a full experience of the city in addition to a whole unique and authentic accommodation experience in the boutique hotels - This route will encourage people to walk rather than taking their cars which will reduce air pollution in the city in addition to reducing the traffic problem in the city

- Real Estate Development of the Old City will lead to socio-economic prosperity for the weakened population that now live there. As well as creating more jobs close to their place of residence.�The Old City of Nazareth has a completely different feel from the rest of the city. To me, the Old City was an intriguing maze of pointed arches, ancient ruins covered in ivy, and old men laughing as they swapped jokes and smoked cigarettes. It was a place where vendors sold giant pomegranates, where the streets smelled of freshly brewed coffee, and where the call of prayer could be heard echoing from the White Mosque�

(Audrie 2013)

Choosing the axis comes out of several considerations: This axis passes hierarchically through two parts. The first part is the upper part which is mainly an access to residential neighbourhood and connects to a major street in the area and the second part is at the bottom and connects to the main road (Paulus the 6th) and goes through the old market, Church of the Annunciation and many historic and preserved buildings therefore it can be practical and useful for both the residents and the tourists Out of this central axis a lot of smaller axes split leading to many sites in the Old City Through the Axis there are many historic buildings and preservation sites which makes the track a cultural and architectural experience for tourists At the top of the route are some beautiful views of the old town, to Nazareth in general and the most important sites. In addition the view constantly changes during the walk through, the built landscape changes as well in the near and distant dimension

This axis goes through several layers of history, it begins at the ancient core, the old market buildings that are related to the beginning of the 19th century and its urban development moves upward, i.e., each time you go higher you pass through newer construction periods and thus this axis is architecturally historical overview of Nazareth. “In the old town’s bazaar, we continue exploring the spice shops where heaps of colorful spices and dried fruit are on display.

We watch how coffee is made in Nazareth and sample some of the locally produced coffee. We also visit the Mary of Nazareth where a first-century house was found underground; and also the Basilica of the Annunciation, the famous site where the Annunciation was said to have taken place according to Catholic beliefs. Along the way, we soak in the calm undercurrents of Nazareth and find ourselves falling for the charm of this city. Come explore for yourself and I’m sure you’ll find this city in transition a natural charm” (Huang, Nelly 2013) Around this axis there are a variety of authentic hostels and guesthouses making this route more accessible for tourists, they can spend more time on this area and experience it more deeply

METHODOLOGY

The route I created will be a landscape, structural and functional development in the most important and valuable historical and architectural area in the city which is reflected in the structural environment in the old city and the historical market, a lot of wonderful buildings designated for preservation and some of them are even conserved, five schools reachable on foot through this same axis divisions.

The current activity itself occurs mainly in the lower part of the route — at the beginning of the market, and it occurs mainly in the morning until noon. So to let residents and tourists begin using this route a reason should be added, diverse and renewable activities, open active areas and a walking trail that is

convenient and practical and overcomes the problem of the walkability.

Selecting one of the paths leading to the old city was due to some reasons, first, I chose a route that is only meant for pedestrians and can be reached from the beginning and middle and end by car, secondly, the diversity in the existing buildings during the route, the open spaces and the abandoned/ unused buildings there that can be developed into more active and valuable.

The potential also exists in the fact that this route is the longest and leads to many more areas where residents find it difficult to reach and tourists do not even know they exist. In addition to the very diverse and interesting materials and details throughout it.

PRECEDENTS

1

Seville 24/7 Center Proposal / Ayrat Khusnutdinov & Zhang Liheng project, it’s a competition for students that have received the second place. The project basically is a structure and system of three-dimensional circulation connecting both sides of the river that runs in Seville, Spain. The building combines active area, entertainment, and accommodations as well as areas of study that makes people want to spend time on this road and pass to the other side with ease and comfort because of the sophisticated and clear circulation system.

2

In a poor section of Medellin, the city created outdoorvvv escalators that go up the side of the mountain so people can have easier access between their homes and the public transportation system.

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS: PLANNING SITE

Out of the 10 principles for liveable high-density city that Benfield proposes in his blog (Benfield, Kaid 2013) I chose to relate to 6 relevant principles that can improve my intervention in Nazareth: 1- Draw nature closer to people — Arab localities in Israel usually lack the green and open-space dimension and focus more on giving solutions for more housing units. But by using the unused in-between spaces, roofs, voids and being creative there will be a room for involving nature.

2- Develop affordable, mixed-use neighbourhoods — “The ease of living in a compact neighbourhood that is relatively self-contained can add to the pleasure of city living. With density, it becomes more cost effective to provide common amenities.”

3- Make public spaces work harder – Often, parcels of land that adjoin or surround the city’s infrastructure are dormant, empty spaces . . . The idea is to make all space, including infrastructural spaces, serve multiple uses and users.

4- Activate spaces for greater safety — “Having a sense of safety and security is an important quality-of-life factor.” Cities should improve visual access to public spaces to maintain “eyes on the street” and help keep neighbourhoods safe.

5- Promote innovative and non-conventional solutions — As a city gets more populated and built up, it starts facing constraints on land and resources, and has to often look at non-traditional solutions to get around the challenges.

6- Forge “3P” (people, public, private) partnerships — “With land parcels in close proximity to one another, the effects of development in one area are likely to be felt quickly and acutely in neighbouring sites. The City government and all stakeholders need to work together to ensure they are not taking actions that would reduce the quality of life for others.”

In my project I want to add social activities, an urban library, and an art Gallery\ Museum which presents the culture of Nazareth. And to improve and extend the historical market that already exists there and use them as a magnet for a diverse population of residents, students and tourists, which will revive the Old City. With all that I combine a well designed and comfortable circulation to create a convenient and flexible path, multi-useful, overcomes the walkability problem and mixes the variety of users.

In addition the vision is also to use the old abandoned buildings that are meant for preservation and change their destiny, to add infill masses wherever it’a

possible between the dense urban areas and design a system that serves the circulation in the area.

This axis will also add the missing green dimension in the city which adds value to the fabric and the city landscape. During the path I have pointed to some spaces that I saw potential in them for renewable projects, these spaces can be developed to include rest spaces to ease the hard steep topography and public/collective spaces that escalators can be blended inside and out of them in order to create comfortable, active and interesting spaces.

Out of these points I chose one that is few meters above the old market, includes three abandoned buildings that I chose to re-use them and a rich environment that includes a hostel, a church and small horizontal routes that lead to schools, a hospital and other areas in the old city.

The architectural act that I have applied is emptying the inside of the three buildings and opening them with several arched doors and adding public functions and a new circulation that mimics the terraces and the stairs of the path. The functions I added are a museum/art-gallery that show the culture of Nazareth, cafes and a hint of the old market as well as designed open spaces around them.

The infill mass that I added comes above the three buildings in one continuous building that includes a library. The library is divided into three floors while the first floor includes a tourists section, newspaper and magazine lounge, grown-ups reading area and media rooms, the second floor is basically for students and it includes studying rooms, group studying space, individual free reading spaces, computers desks and printers, and the third floor is for children with various fun and comfortable spaces.

The building also includes green open terraces that can be accessed from the first and the third floor and they are exposed to a breath taking panoramic view of Nazareth from different angles.

It also includes a small auditorium/cinema room that can be accessed from the second floor.

The geometry of the platforms is created out of the geometry of the path with the ever changing directions and terraces. In addition the platforms do not end at the same line leaving higher spaces and eye-contact between the floors.

A triangulated steel profiles structure covers the building with a variety of materials that give the houses near the privacy and gives the open views for the building and the light and shading.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bro, Christine (2008) March, Nazareth the neglected city of Jesus (The )Electronic Intifada https://electronicintifada.net/content/nazareth-neglected-city-jesus/7431 Verbakel, Els (2012) November, Hot Spots of hostility, hospitality, and the well-tempered environment. Case study of Nazareth, Israel - Palestine )(Planum. The journal of urbanism, n.26, vol.1/2013 Srouji, Samir (2006) Nazareth - Intersecting Narratives of Modern Architectural Histories ( Third Text, Vol.20, Issue 3/4, May/July, 2006, 355)371 )ISRAEL21c Staff (2008) April, Finding the heart of Nazareth (ISRAEL21c /http://www.israel21c.org/finding-the-heart-of-nazareth )Mike Porter, A new miracle in old Nazareth (ESRA MAGAZINE http://esra-magazine.com/blog/post/new-old-nazareth )Huang, Nelly (2013) March, A city in transition: Nazareth, Israel ( WildJunket /http://www.wildjunket.com/2013/03/20/a-city-in-transition-nazareth-israel Becki, Why there’s more to the old city of Nazareth than just biblical )reference (Blog http://www.bordersofadventure.com/more-to-old-city-of-nazareth-not\/biblical-reference )Audrie (2013) December, The old city of Nazareth (Blog /http://thatbackpacker.com/2013/12/03/old-city-nazareth Benfield, Kaid (2013) February, 10 Principles for making high-density cities )better ( SwitchBoard Blog http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/10_principles_for_making_ high-.html Hiu Ming, Lau (2014) Investigating the small public urban open spaces at high-density cities: a case study of Hong Kong ( Master thesis in Sustainable )Development, Uppsala University Tonnelat, S. (2010) The sociology of urban public spaces (Territorial evolution and planning solution: Experiences from China and France, Paris, Atlantis )press, 2010 Wikipedia, Nazareth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth