Re-destruction

Reconstruction is often imagined as the counterpoint to destruction. In the daily reality of the Gaza Strip, an ongoing conflict area, however, these moments are cyclical. Even when reconstruction occurs, an event that is supposed to conjure images of safety and stability, there is no guarantee that it won’t get destroyed again in a vicious circle of strikes, destruction, ceasefire, and reconstruction, followed again by war and destruction.

This re-destruction has the potential to produce a new socio-cultural identity and a different sense of local collectivity. With every cycle of destruction and reconstruction, an identifiable context is erased by the recomposition of urban space and the accumulation of debris in the cityscape, which in turn negates and fragments the collective memory among the people.

In such cases, in an area that faces the imminent threat of another war, How can the collective memory and social identity be sustained in the cycle of daily reconstruction?

The project aims to mitigate the suffering of the Gazans and prevent another cycle of unthoughtful residential reconstruction by rearranging the power dynamics, giving Gazans dwellings, and accelerating the speed and quality of reconstruction.

A new mechanism can be an opportunity to take control and shape a new social structure of one’s community, which will lead to reclaiming independence and dignity through the agency of space. The reconstruction will preserve a sense of community and social identity, sustaining the collective memory of people, even when resources are scarce.