Small Scale Outdoor Architecture with Large Scale Impact in Palestine

Life quality, social interactions and the liveability level of cities can be strongly improved by using outdoor small scale architecture as a tool for urban transformation. Structures like these have great potentialities in those territories where geographical and political limits determine a stagnant use of urban area. Palestine represents a perfect example of a territory where small scale outdoor architecture can enhance social interaction and cohesion, taking advantage of small and unused outdoor spaces. With very few facilities to take care of individuals with disabilities, as well as very few outlets for leisure where families can find support or simply relate to each other, the southern West Bank society barely absorbs the burden originated from a great number of people with disabilities that often are isolated within domestic walls and left at the expense (morally and financially) of their families. Based on extensive research and fieldwork, this paper shows how contemporary microarchitecture can integrate with traditional Palestinian Society taking into consideration the concerns of people with disabilities, of their families and of women that look after them. The aim of the project was to contribute to the advancement of Persons with Disability rights, through a participatory planning method that could enhance their roles in the rural communities. The paper focuses and analyses 3 outdoor small scale structures realized with local materials and technologies in the Hebron Governorate under the project of an Italian architecture team named Arcò. The results are put into comparison with a broader literature on outdoor architecture including other geographical contexts with particular attention to the relationship between outdoor comfort and how spaces are used. Namely environmental comfort simulations are used to highlight the benefits of investing in these types of structures. By focusing on the 3 case studies with the specificity and the limits of the Palestinian context the paper conveys a broader message on how to take advantage of the potentialities that some urban spaces have also in western and industrialized context. The background purpose goes beyond Hebron case studies and aims at replacing civil society at the centre of the city, employing architecture to improve citizenry glue and social cohesion. Microarchitecture projects are indeed the new frontier to transform the territory, however fragmented it may be, into catalysts for social, economic and political change.