Riwaq () or Centre for Architectural Conservation is a center for the preservation of

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

heritage of rural

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The organization is based in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

and owes its name mainly to a '' riwaq'', which is an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...

.Prince Claus Fund
''Riwaq''
Riwaq was founded by Suad Amiry in 1991 amongst a group of architects, archeologists, and planners with the aim to preserve

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

. Researchers of the center have compiled a detailed register of historic buildings in Palestine. The buildings that they document are frequently threatened by military occupation and counter actions of inhabitants. In the course of twenty years since its foundation, Riwaq had completed more than one hundred restoration projects, including major monuments in the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and the renovation of historic streets in the historical part of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. Riwaq's anti-monumentalist approach to preservation is meant to emphasize the presence of indigenous cultures with vernacular architecture and the shaping of the Palestinian landscape by the hands of average inhabitants. The organization uses a combination of research and documentation, traditional knowledge preservation, restoration, an outreach through cultural programing.

Innitiatives

"Riwaq has worked since 1991 on the conservation and revitalization of what remains of the rural architectural heritage of historic Palestine, most of which currently lies in the West Bank and Gaza." The first project of the organization was to conduct a comprehensive architectural survey of Palestinian architecture. Over the course of a decade, hundreds of architects and architecture students documented more than 50,320 buildings in 122 village, towns, and cities. In 2006, they published Riwaq's Registry of Historic Buildings. This effort led to the 50 Villages or 50 Historic Centers Project, when it became clear that over 50% of the historic structures are in 50 Palestinian villages.

The 50 Historic Centers Project

The project aims to make qualitative addition on the regional scale by empowering communities by offering means to improve their environment and living conditions. Notably, Riwaq has focused on restoring historic buildings within the 50 selected villages to provide community and cultural centers for marginalized groups.

Legal Framework

The first legal framework to protect Palestinian cultural heritage from 1929, developed during the British Mandate, was adopted by the Israeli administration and the Palestinian Authority and has remained relatively unchanged since 1966. In 2004, Riwaq and the Institute of Law at Birzeit University were awarded a tender to draft a new law. As Chiara de Cesari writes, Palestinian heritage work in the post-Oslo period has become a crucial player in the absence of a Palestinian state.

Biennale

The first

Biennale In the art world, a biennale ( , ; ), is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally internationa ...

was held in 2005.

Awards

Riwaq was awarded several times: *2006: Dubai International Award For the Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment *2007: Good Governance Certificate, of Transparency Palestine - The AMAN Coalition, Ramallah *2007: Qattan Distinction Award, of

A. M. Qattan Foundation The A. M. Qattan Foundation is a not-for-profit developmental organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine. It was founded in 1993 by the Palestinian businessman and politician Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan. The chairman is his son Omar Al-Qatta ...

's Culture & Arts Programme, Ramallah *2010: Palestine International Award for Excellence and Creativity *2011:

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996 and named after Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It is annually subsidized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 1997, the Fund has annually presented the international Prince Claus Awa ...

*2012: Curry Stone Design Prize *2013:

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fie ...

*2014: Holcim Awards Africa Middle East

References