School in Arab Al-Sawahre: Split Space

Michal Solomon, Shira-lou Munk 2009-2010

There are no schools in the proximity of the site where we chose to plan our project. Children must first make their way to the center of the village and then take a bus from there. In order to answer this need our program focuses on the construction of a primary school and junior high school.
The newly-planned peripheral ring-road will divide the site in two – one side will remain a part of the village and the other will border upon the separation wall. We chose to place the school under the bridge, at a point where its height reaches 50 meters. We approach the area under the bridge as being emptied of its content. Thus a gap is created in the relationship between the parts comprising the school, which is divided in two. The emptied space creates possibilities for unexpected events to occur in the urban courtyard created in the school’s center. The construction on the site is such that clears space rather then filling it, appropriating it for a variety of uses. The construction, in fact, defines and delimits the open space, without which it might not be considered as having a potential use.
The very construction of the bridge can be looked at from several points of view, for example that of the planners, the residents, and activists from different organizations. Taking into account the bridge’s negative connotations for local residents, we wish to allow the granting of new meanings for it. The school combines elements taken from local residential typologies alongside technological components belonging to the construction of the bridge. The bridge assumes… the existence of a body that determines its design and the professional knowledge required for its construction. This is opposed to the local knowledge and spontaneous actions of individuals on the site. The combination of these types of knowledge will allow their existence side by side.
Another conflict addressed in planning the school is the pedagogical concept. It is neither obvious nor ordinary for a formal education system to exist in a space that was built partially illegally. Perhaps an informal education system is more suitable for this environment. The question arises, therefore, of how to integrate such a system into a public school that is built by government agencies.
Another focal point of the project is the approval of the specific Urban Construction Plan (T”BA) of the road, and the possibility that the existence of the school will effect a change in the current T”BA of the open landscape in the region. While residencies existing in the area are to a great part not recognized by law, perhaps the planning of a public building will bring about a future change, designating the area for residential use in the T”BA.
Moreover, the range of possible future conflicts in the site creates a situation in which there is nothing pure, and each component “stains” another. In fact, the space is a product of the relationship between the different elements. We are interested in producing a space of encounter from which matters are re-examined and re-defined, allowing the unexpected to emerge.
School in Arab Al-Sawahre: Split Space Presentation