Palestinian brothers champion cultural dialogue at Venice Architecture Biennale
Elias and Yousef Anastas’ ‘All Purpose’ examines new ways of working with stone
Bethlehem-based Palestinian architects
Elias and Yousef
Anastas, founders of the architectural firm AAU ANASTAS, presented their latest work, “All Purpose,” at the main exhibition of the Venice Architectural Biennale on May 22. Back in the architects’ homeland on the same night, several Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah were being evicted from their homes.
And so “All Purpose” became a doubly important feat for the architects. For one, their work was finally being shown after a long postponement to the biennale due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, secondly, the exhibition unexpectedly served as a way to relay a message about Palestine, its architecture and materials, during a time of tension and uncertainty.
Situated in the Giardini, within the main exhibition of the
Venice Architecture Biennale,
“All Purpose,” created by AAU ANASTAS in collaboration with Professor Maurizio Brocato at Ensa Paris Malaquais, is an installation that examines the use of stone in contemporary architecture in Palestine. Its title refers to the versatility of the material and its many meanings for Palestinians.
The Anastas brothers — who are also the founders of Local Industries, a design platform that works with Palestinian artisans — have long championed the preservation of local craft techniques through functional contemporary design.
Their installation at the Venice Architecture Biennale presents a roof made of patch-like stone shapes that are “as minimally curved as possible” to reduce waste in the carving of the stone as well as machine fabrication time. The roof is supported by 16 slender columns.
“The overall shape of the roof is curved, but each piece composing it is curved as little as possible,” Elias told Arab News. “The only sophisticated part is the interface between stones, which are all doubly curved congruent surfaces.
“We have been researching stone construction for eight years now, experimenting with various one-to-one scale prototypes and constructions,” he continued. “Locally, we are challenging the misuse of stone as a cladding material only, the repercussions of a law we inherited from the British mandate in Palestine that has had disastrous implications for architecture, urbanism, politics, culture and the environment.”
The use of stone has long been instrumentalized as a political tool in the conquest of Palestinian territory, dating back to the early 20th century and the time of the British mandate.
Stone quarrying is Palestine’s greatest export — although quarries in Palestine operate under various Israeli restrictions.
“Globally, we are challenging the absence of stone in contemporary architecture as well as how particular stone techniques have been historically presented as an imported knowledge,” Elias explained.
“Part of our research aims at desacralizing the use of stone. Once you start scratching the surface, you realize that not only have techniques always been a blend of knowledge from different civilizations, but also that in Palestine, for instance, stone has been a major part of domestic and common architecture.”
Through their work the architects challenge what they call “the imperial idea of transmission of knowledge.” To that end they have launched a sub-project within their research called “Analogies,” the main aim of which is to trace analogies between architectural elements across time and space. A few examples, according to the brothers, include the details surrounding the stone entrance of the crusader-built Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, which resemble details found in Cairo, dating back to the Mamluk period.
“We globally fight for a multipolarization of knowledge,” Elias said. “In stone architecture, for example, stereotomy (the cutting of three-dimensional solids into specific shapes) is often associated with the crusaders as masters of stone. However, following traces of stone techniques and architectural forms often reveals much more diverse origins.”
And, as mentioned, “All Purpose” proved to be dual-purpose during the opening weeks of the Venice Architecture Biennale, which coincided with the conflict taking place in Palestine.
In the middle of the renewed fighting between Hamas and Israel in May, the brothers wondered what to do with the popular online radio station Radio Alhara, which they helped to launch in Palestine at the beginning of worldwide lockdowns in March 2020. It has since provided a platform for discussion, listening and community building. Its name, which means “the neighborhood radio,” echoes the nature of the station itself; an intimate community from the margins that is open and accessible to the world with the mission of bridging cultural boundaries.
“We shut down the radio to have some time to reflect on what to do and very quickly we decided to turn the radio into a platform known as the Sonic Liberation Front,” Elias Anastas said. “It is for anyone who would like to contribute any form of sonic content that is either expressing a form of solidarity with what is happening or to express (support for those battling) other forms of injustice or oppression that are happening in other parts of the world.”
During its first week, “All Purpose” became a stage for the Sonic Liberation Front launched by Radio Alhara. The space under the vault was used to create in-situ performances by sound artists Moe Choucair and Lawrence Abu Hamdan.
Both artists based their work on recordings of ambient sounds from Gaza and Jerusalem.
“Through Radio Alhara we perceived the planet becoming one, especially after the times we (faced) during the pandemic,” Elias said. “The Sonic Liberation Front aims to create space to discuss, through art and sound, forms of oppression, injustice and racism happening around the world.”
While rooted in Palestine, both “All Purpose” and The
Sonic Liberation Front share the mission of strengthening global solidarities that stem from diverse contexts in an attempt to fight what the Anastas brothers call “an imperial reading of our cultures.”