Embrace diversity: (un)divided Hebron

Embrace diversity: (un)divided Hebron: coexistence through architecture of water

de Jong, Klaas (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

van Bennekom, Henri (mentor)
van der Meel, Hubert (mentor)
Hein, Carola (mentor)
Vitner, Daan (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

2018-04-13

Water scarcity and unequal distribution of water to different social groups is a problem around the world - mostly in arid and dry climatological conditions. In Israel and the Palestinian Territories water is used as a territorial tool in what I call 'spaces of conflict and opposition'. What could the role of e.g. an architect be in spaces of conflict and opposition through the spatial embodiment of water? This master thesis elaborates on the relevancy of the relation between water and architecture; the architectural embodiment of water systems in coherence with the creation of spaces for mixed flows of people from different social groups.
The building design - the Temple of Water - tries to find an architectural expression in the provision of sufficient water to the city of Hebron, while being a place for all different people to enter, meet, gather, and understand the importance of water as the source for life. The Temple of Water aims for the generation of curiosity and unpredictability in order to be a continuous source of fascination and mysteriousness. Water is the key element and is embodied in different ways, as it also expresses itself through different media e.g. sound and air humidity.
The Temple of water dresses the problems of territorial water management while providing the city of Hebron of water and being the platform for social cohesion and de-segragation through architecture of water.

territorial water management
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Hebron
architecture of water
West Bank
Israel
Palestinian Territories
coexistence
water supply
water availability
water allocation

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Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Klaas de Jong