Architects for Gaza has displayed sections of an experimental clinic, which it plans to build in Gaza "as soon as there is a gap" in Israeli strikes, at the London Festival of Architecture.
On show at the University of Westminster, the full-scale segments were designed to demonstrate how structures could be built to provide primary care in Gaza where 70 per cent of all health infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed since the most recent escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in October.
Named Experimental Lab/Clinic, the project by Architects for Gaza was designed by curators Yara Sharif, Nasser Golzari, Francois Girardin and Papolo Cascone to be built using the scarce materials available in Gaza. The clinics would also act as a kind of "atlas of possibilities" to demonstrate construction techniques that people can use to rebuild their homes and neighbourhoods. Architects for Gaza has created a 1:1 prototype of a healthcare clinic for Gaza
The post-and-beam structure integrates DIY solutions developed by locals during previous reconstruction efforts, as the import of construction materials like cement and steel has been restricted since Israel and Egypt placed the territory under a blockade in 2007.
"We are basically building on how Gazans work with limited material to come up with innovative alternative techniques for reconstruction," said Yara Sharif, who runs advocacy group Architects for Gaza with her partner Nasser Golzari.
"...