If You Will It, It Is No Border
The project offers a renewed reading of the Jordan River as a lifeline, a landscape, and a border—an arena that simultaneously embodies the challenges of the Israeli–Jordanian conflict and the potential for regional cooperation. Throughout history, the river has served as a vital waterway, a source of energy (such as the Naharayim power station established by Pinhas Rutenberg), and a site of deep religious and cultural significance. Yet since the 20th century, the Jordan River has suffered severe degradation: overuse, pollution, diversion of its sources, and its transformation into a militarized border have caused ecological damage and limited public access.
The work examines the Jordan River on three parallel planes: as a historical–cultural object tied to foundational religious and national narratives; as an economic and infrastructural resource that enabled agricultural and industrial development; and as a political boundary that became a focal point of conflict, from the “Water War” of the 1960s to the peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. Although the treaty established mechanisms for water management and security coordination, it failed to cultivate a broad civic partnership, leaving the river a symbol of “cold peace.”
As part of the project, a system of stations for cooperative hydropolitics is proposed. Each prototype—Restoration, Filtration, Connection, Storage, Conversion, and Monitoring—functions not only as an engineering facility but also as a public space that generates communal, cultural, and touristic experiences. Together, they form a new spatial continuum: trails, bridges, and activity nodes interwoven with the local topography and agricultural landscape, creating continuous connections between the river’s two banks. The system thus serves both as a tool for ecological restoration and as a framework for strengthening human ties across the border.
The project’s vision for 2050 imagines the Jordan River as a revitalized landscape: its flow restored, its ecosystem recovering, and its role redefined. No longer a rigid dividing line, the river emerges as a vital space linking people, water, and landscape. In this way, the project advances a broader model: border zones worldwide can be transformed from spaces of estrangement and conflict into shared and productive landscapes, with architectural design serving as a catalyst for new socio-political orders grounded in shared resources.
