When we began in 1991, we
recognized the challenge before us as we tried to
understand the world of cultural heritage. Harnessing
the energy and skills of students, architects,
archaeologists, and historians, Riwaq took on the
imposing work of the National Register of Historic
Buildings: a 13-year project (1994-2007) resulting in
the publication of 3 impressive volumes that include
detailed information, maps and photos of some 420
villages in 16 districts of the West Bank, Jerusalem and
the Gaza Strip.
Other projects may not have
had the same grandiose vision, but certainly they boast
valuable impacts. For example, shifting the conception
of conservation from an expensive and elitist activity
into a meaningful skill that sustains livelihoods,
Riwaq's “Job
Creation Through Conservation” has
successfully transformed cultural heritage into an
important economic tool.
Realizing the scarcity and
limitations on human and financial resources—and the
many obstacles resulting from the alarming destruction
of Palestine's cultural heritage—Riwaq has come to
understand the unfortunate reality that we are no longer
in a position to protect the cultural heritage in
Palestine as such. We have come to realize that we must
concentrate our collaborative efforts on the protection
and revitalization of particular pieces of that layer:
single individual buildings, parts, or—whenever
possible—whole architectural fabrics of a few historic
centers.
Utilizing data provided in
Riwaq’s National Register of Historic Buildings, we’ve
been able to conclude that by protecting about 50
villages, we would succeed in protecting almost 50% of
the historic buildings in Palestine, encompassing some
50,230 historic buildings. Consequently Riwaq is aware
of the necessity to shift its priorities and resources
from the conservation of single historic buildings to
entire areas. This entails both the rather short-term
physical preventive conservation of whole historic
centers, as well as the long-term challenging processes
of social and economic revitalization of these
increasingly deserted historic centers. We believe Riwaq
has succeeded in answering a vital question: What does
it take to rehabilitate a whole town, not only
physically but socially, culturally, and economically?
Announcements
50 Villages Project
Following the completion in 2007
of Riwaq’s comprehensive
architectural survey, which
resulted in the publication of
‘Riwaq’s Registry of Historic
Buildings’, it was revealed that
almost 50% of the historic
buildings in rural areas of the
West Bank and Gaza are located
in around 50 villages. Hence it
has become Riwaq’s vision to
focus on those 50 villages for
the foreseeable future, working
on rehabilitation projects to
target improvement of services,
infrastructure and living
conditions of the public,
private and surrounding spaces.
