A AU A NA STA S
AAU Anastas
Statement
AAU Anastas has three entities that mutually sustain themselves: the architecture studio, SCALES, a research department, and Local Industries, a network of furniture-making around the city. Thinking of a project as a process is a common thread running through our work. In our architectural practice, furniture making and researchbased projects, we propose new relationships between building materials, artisanship, building knowledge and the design industry within the Palestinian environment. Fed by the historic urban fabric surrounding us, our practice investigates territorial understandings of architecture within evolving political frameworks. We seek to form links between different scales, periods and locations as a way of blending approaches – placing architecture at the intersection of local and global matters. Palestine has its own specific architecture but it also shares much of its architecture with other parts of the world. Through our research entity SCALES, we challenge common approaches to the transmission of knowledge. Above all, our research is an attempt to trace architectural elements and techniques beyond borders and historical periods. Our interest in furniture-making through Local Industries stems from our architectural work. Its aim is to provide international clients with functional furniture crafted by local artisans. The project aims to reassert the value of local Palestinian labour, without freezing it in a traditional and obsolete role or mindlessly imposing alien standards to its method of work. §We aim to place our projects in a critical universal discourse while leaning on an anchored contextual approach.
AAU Anastas
Toulkarem, Palestine
Toulkarem Courthouse
2015
Located on a triangular parcel of approximately 5,000 square meters at the entrance of Toulkarem city is the courthouse, which houses the magistrate and courts of first instance. The concept of the building is based on a succession of volumes. On the way to the city, the first building, at the top of the triangular parcel, accommodates the administration of the courthouse: the registries, cashier and notary. The second building, which houses the 12 courtrooms, unveils itself besides an interstice space. The first building opens onto a public space that anchors it to its urban context and offers the citizens of Toulkarem a place to gather. They are encouraged to invest the space because it’s raised above street level. The massive stone walls are carved with different inclined geometries, protecting the interior space from the radiation of the sun during work hours. From the inside, the windows offer large framed views of the neighbouring landscapes. The administrative building is separated from the courtroom building by a longitudinal planted interstice that crosses the parcel; a shimmering steel envelope that filters light and air.
Front entrance. Photos by Mikaela Burstow.
Opposite page: Entrance piazza Above: A bespoke latticed envelope contrasts with the limestone building faรงade.
Above: Waiting area of the notary overlooking the patio. Below: the front entrance and with a stone carved signageon the limestone wall.
Right: the entrance lobby.
AAU Anastas
Jerusalem, Palestine
The Flat Vault
2018
St Mary of the Resurrection Abbey, built in the 12th century, is one of Jerusalem’s most significant examples of witness of Crusader architecture. It is a complete model of the architecture of the crusaders in Palestine; a union of various architectural elements that combine architecture from abroad with local elements found in situ. The flat stone vault is an extension of the monastery’s shop and was conceived as a stone structure. However, the strategy of integration does not rely on the formal aspect of the architectural element but rather on the construction techniques. Like most of the architecture of the monastery – including the church’s crypt – the soundness of the structure relied on the delicate work of stereotomy. Massive stone columns support a ceiling of 69 interlocking stone voussoirs, a traditional system used to construct archs and vaults where each element is precisely cut so that it presses firmly against the surface of neighbouring blocks and conducts loads uniformly.
The flat vault creates is an extension to the monastery’s shop. Photos by Mikaela Burstow.
Stone columns support grid-like ceiling. Above: Drawing of the assembly system of the stone voussoirs.
The techniques used for the construction rely on novel design and simulation techniques of the structure’s structural behaviour, as well as
on fabrication and mounting methods allowing for the assembly of precise topological interlocking.
The extension of the monastery’s shop – in such a heavy historical context – is an attempt to adapt existing construction principles to novel design and fabrication methods as well as a specific local stonemasonry know-how.
AAU Anastas
Jericho, Palestine
Stone Matters
2015
Stone Matters is built on an innovative construction principle, allowing for unprecedented structural forms. This architectural innovation is born from structural morphology and stereotomy, the art of cutting three-dimensional solids into particular shapes. The vault covers a surface of 60m2 and spans 7m; the material has a constant depth of 12cm. The minimal structure follows geodesic lines to create a pattern of 300 mutually supported interlocking stones. Beyond the scientific and technical complexities that make Stone Matters such a unique object, the project also represented a cultural challenge: it was built with the available know-how of a peripheral zone of the marginal city of Jericho. The processes of several factories were combined to use existing techniques for new uses. After its completion, Stone Matters attracted the curiosity of the residents of Jericho and elsewhere in Palestine, instigating the elAtlal artists and writers residency. El-Atlal is a model of construction techniques linked to urban morphologies. It envisions new possible cities’ morphologies, new construction techniques with a sophisticated use of stone – a material that is readily available in Palestine.
First prototype built as part of el-Atlal artists residency project in Jericho, Palestine. Photos by Mikaela Burstow.
The interlocking stones of Stone Matter’s first vault follow a geometric pattern that forms a minimal surface. This self-supporting structure is influenced by the techniques used to build arches and domes in many of the region’s traditional buildings..
We aim to better understand construction techniques through stone stereotomy combined with structural analysis.
By working with stone stereotomy and interlocking geometrical systems, our research aims to propose relatively easy processes of building stone vaults.
AAU Anastas
Cremisan Valley, Bethlehem, Palestine
While We Wait
2016
While We Wait, a meditative, immersive installation originally commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, was later on display at Concrete at Alserkal Avenua, Dubai. The sculptural installation comprises pieces of stone quarried from various regions of Palestine, which fit together to form a large, lattice-like, self-supporting structure. The installation is visibly porous, allowing viewers to see their surroundings from inside whilst listening to evocative sound and video components. While We Wait was designed digitally, cut by robots, and hand-finished by artists. Using ‘stereotomy’ – the art of cutting stones for assembly – the installation was produced in Palestine. Elements of the process have employed traditional techniques from the region. While We Wait is inspired by the Cremisan Valley near Bethlehem, where the separation wall is currently being built. It threatens to sever the historic link between the valley and its eponymous monastery. In contrast to the concrete wall, which dominates and divides the landscape, this installation venerates the natural beauty of the Cremisan Valley, it’s eventual home. Following its display at Concrete, While We Wait was permanently installed at the Cremisan Valley, where it celebrates the relationship between nature and architecture in the context of the Palestinian landscape.
While We Wait at The Victoria and Albert Museum’s Simon Sainsbury Gallery, London. Photo by Edmund Sumner.
Opposite page: While We Wait in the Cremisan Valley in Bethlehem. Photo by Mikaela Burstow. Above: Details of the stone assembly and front elevation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photos by Millimetre London.
Above: An axonometric view of the structure. The structure consists of small pieces of stone from different regions of Palestine, fading upwards from earthy red to pale limestone. All pieces were carved by local artisans. Right: Landscape of the Cremisan Valley in the periphery of Bethlehem.