Re-Emergence

Extracts from “Identity: Exile & Return”
by Ahmad Barclay

Miska, an archaeology of memory and forgetting
Miska, an archaeology of memory and forgetting (Ahmad Barclay)

Here, the architectural dimensions of a built return are developed through the interrogation of Miska, a single Palestinian village depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and subsequently destroyed.

The spatial narrative of ‘Re-Emergence’ frames return as the product of pre-existing and ongoing spatial practices linked to both the site of dispossession and the site of exile. Considering how these processes might begin to reconcile the conflicting forces of ‘erasure’ and ‘memory’, and ultimately reshape the concrete built form of the village.

Village core, prior to 1948
Village core, prior to 1948 (Ahmad Barclay)
Village core, traces of destruction
Village core, traces of destruction 2010 (Ahmad Barclay)
Village core, an urbanity of presence and absence
Village core, an urbanity of presence and absence (Ahmad Barclay)

The urban grain of the village is formed in a dialogue between the original layout of the family plots and a choice made by each exiled family, whether to return or to remain absent.

Spatial principles of "Re-Emergence" at the scale of the school
Spatial principles of "Re-Emergence" at the scale of the school (Ahmad Barclay)

In addition to the macro scale – the village masterplan – the narrative of ‘Re-Emergence’ is also explored at the micro scale, through the development of an architectural scheme for the primary school on its original site to the northwest of the village.

"Signposting", a series of thresholds
"Signposting", a series of thresholds (Ahmad Barclay)
A section through the school
A section through the school (Ahmad Barclay)

(Content published on arenaofspeculation.org with permission from the author.)

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