The West Bank isn't the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of renewal, but there is a town there that is tenaciously going against the flow. Located 21 kilometres south of Hebron, the remote village of As-Samou' sits in the crosshairs of Israel's controversial separation barrier — which began in 2002 and is currently 60 per cent complete — and has been left to its own demise ever since it was the site of an Israeli strike in 1966. Now the historic town is quietly trying to reclaim some of its former glory.
A preservation effort has seen the rehabilitation of 25 ahwash — the courtyards of what were once family compounds — cleared of waste, vegetation and debris; the inventory and diagnosis of another 20, recording details such as the year of construction and architectural descriptions; and the immediate consolidation of 12 that were carefully selected and preserved. Completed last October, the project served as a training ground for locals, offering recent architecture graduates a rare chance to engage in hands-on historical and archaeological study in a part of the world where preservation has fallen by the wayside amid war and constant political instability.
"I was really impressed with the richness of the vernacular heritage. It has a lot of potential, if we can conserve and protect it," says Paolo Lazzoni, a project manager at Hydea, the Italian consulting engineering firm that led the initiative and which also has offices in Florence, Beijing and Brussels. "It was amazing to find so much heritage from different periods in such a small place." The international consortium reclaimed vestiges spanning the Crusader period, including a Roman temple, remains of the city walls and even an ancient synagogue.
Many of the decaying structures, some of them relics of the Roman and Byzantine periods, were restored not only for heritage preservation but also to make the area — especially the rundown ahwash — safe for local children to play in. Part of the municipality's mission was to develop infrastructure for its youth, and so one of the buildings has been turned into a Cultural Youth Centre, where children can learn music, crafts, painting or second languages. "We tried to use ancient techniques and to maintain the old style of the buildings. In our company, we believe that simple is beautiful," Lazzoni explains.
Speaking from his home-bound quarantine in Florence in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, he recounts how the project was in fact a spin-off of a consulting effort already underway in the region, one that eventually evolved into a two-year, 740,000-dollar international consortium that included the Ramallah-based architect Nadia Habash and was backed by the British Council. While much of the work relied on traditional construction techniques, training programmes also taught volunteers to use new technology, such as urban collector kits and a 3D scanner.
Shortly after the project was completed last November, however, Israel confiscated more local land for its barrier — including 129 dunams, or 13 hectares, belonging to As-Samou' and the neighbouring village of Adh-Dhahiriya. As-Samou', it is worth noting, lies within the West Bank's Area C, which is under full Israeli control and makes up more than 60 per cent of the territory. This, then, is a story of a new beginning. But there are still many challenges ahead.
