Workshop Sustainable Reconstruction in Gaza

Reconstruct Gaza despite everything. This is the opening phrase of the workshop conducted by reconstruction specialist Erika Trabucco, with the ONG Handicap International and the University of Palestine. A workshop that aims at sending out a signal for possible recovery in a very tough backdrop.



Post-war construction can generate lots of opportunities to recover for hard-hit zones. But it all turns kind of complicated if there are no raw materials for reconstruction, which is exactly what's happening on the Gaza Strip. 





The workshop “Sustainable Reconstruction in Gaza” held in September 2015 sought to start-up reconstruction without resources on the one hand, and aimed to knock down architectural barriers on the other. All of this in a backdrop where 7% of the population is disabled, and each war adds to that number.



The workshop conducted by reconstruction specialist Erika Trabucco, with the ONG Handicap International and the University of Palestine aimed at making the most of the few resources available and at indicating new, feasible design approaches.



The workshop involved 50 architecture and engineering students - future professionals - who completed two buildings: a meditation hall for University students and a bathroom for the disabled. Here, high-technology was set aside in favour of labour-intensive technologies, responding to the need to create jobs for the non-specialist labour in Gaza.





The construction materials were oriented towards recycled or poor materials (bottles, blankets, sandbags, pallets). A response driven by the lack of available materials caused by embargoes and by shortfalls in the waste disposal systems. The gabions used as walls for the meditation hall were filled with detritus from buildings destroyed during war. So, the materials have been left exposed and enhanced as essential elements for the project, both in terms of their aesthetic and in their concept.



The results of the “Sustainable Reconstruction in Gaza” workshop show the fundamental part played by architecture as a driver of social change, in this case also in view of a more inclusive society for one of the most disadvantaged zones in the world.

Christiane Bürklein

Promoter: Handicap International, NGO 
Donor: AFD [Agence Française de Développement] 
Workshop concept and organisation: Erika Trabucco_ Reconstruction Specialist, Handicap International 
Partner: University of Palestine 
Project: Flavio Giaccone, Eljor Kerciku_technical consultants for the design and construction of the halls 
Works facilitator: eng. Abdalla Syam ‐ Handicap International 
Constructor: Enjaz Al Bena 
Images: Courtesy of Erika Trabucco