Project
The Catalyst (Redefining schools during war with Gaza as the case)
Year: 2023
Category: Educational Architecture
Skills: Archicad, Lumion, Photoshop
Imagine living with the threat of bombing at any second, having lived through 4 wars and been blocked for 15 years by air, sea, and land. Imagine living in a city that is labeled as the ‘world’s largest open-air prison’. Imagine seeing death, violence, losing a home in a split of a second and many other horrors at a very young age. This is the life of over 1 million children who make up 47% of Gaza. 91% of these children suffer from Trauma (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says) . This causes many consequences that affect the children’s future and education. Due to the Living conditions in Gaza there are no spaces for the children to heal and express, with the school as the most likely space to gather. This makes the school building a very good place to heal the children and as a result improve their education and future. I am proposing a strategy to convert Schools in Gaza into community healing hubs.
The concept
With Gaza being under constant attacks and facing full blockade for years, innocent children are being left behind traumatized and lacking their basic needs to survive. This poses a big threat to their education and future leading to an incompetent future generation if not dealt with urgently. The children need spaces to heal and express what they're going through to be able to move on, but due to the conditions in Gaza there are no such spaces. The only space widely available to most children is the school, which makes it a suitable place to heal since trauma has negative impacts on education in addition to other aspects of the child's life. But the problem is schools are not accommodated for healing, which leads to the question of 'How can a traditional school turn into a healing catalyst for the children and their community?' With trauma affecting not only the child but its environment the healing can't be only done for the child alone, but rather for the whole community. So, I turned the schools into community healing hubs providing a network of healing spaces that are accessible all over Gaza.
The chosen site, Approach, Existing vs New
For the prototype application: I chose a site located in the middle area of Gaza, within a very condensed area that is serviced but lacking open spaces. There are two existing UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) schools Infront of the sea but completely closed off from it. My approach was to open the school completely to the sea (healing nature element), leaving the ground floor completely open for the public with the actual school raised on the upper floors for privacy. Expressive spaces were added following a journey dealing with the school and its zone's needs.
Application of the prototype
Drawings portraying the application of the strategy on the prototype (existing school): Masterplan of how the public space works on the ground floor and its connection to the sea. Site plan showing how the school is located within its context. Section showing the approach from the middle entrance continuing to reach the stage 'floating' over the sea. Front elevation showing the relationship of the plaza with the school and the sea.
Scenarios
Renders showing the scenarios found in the school and the public expressive spaces.
Shatha Joudeh
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