Tuesday, June 27th 2023 | 2.00 p.m. (CET)

"Al-Manarah Square - Ramallah/Al-Bireh: an evolving public space in a contested territory"

with Dr. Shaden Awad

About:
This lecture addresses one of Palestine’s renowned public spaces, Ramallah/Al-Bireh’s al Manarah Square. After World War I, Ramallah/Al-Bireh began their transformation from provincial towns of Ottoman times to modern administrative centres; accordingly, the emergence of public spaces, including squares, roundabouts, and parks, was an important aspect of this transformation. The lecture is considering the emergence of the main public space in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, which is known as "al-Manarah Square". The Square has prominent value within Ramallah/ Al-Bireh urban structure. Its value is due to the physical, mental, and social significance that the square holds as a public space—in other words, its central urban location as well as its historical and cultural identity. The evolution of the square in a contested geography reflects the urban transformations of Ramallah/ Al-Bireh since the late 19^th century until now. The lecture aims to explore and trace the various physical changes of al-Manarah Square due to instable political situations and power dynamics and to link these changes to the inhabitants’ spatial practices and the pedestrians’ movement as they pass al-Manarah Square.

Bio:
Shaden Awad is an assistant professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering and planning  at Birzeit University.

Awad’s research focuses on the Palestinian cities’ urban transformations, the socio-spatial dialectic and the domesticity and notion of home. As an academic and researcher Shaden Awad  managed the capacity building for rural development in occupied Palestinian territory- project, 2011-2014 funded by the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR) in collaboration with Graz Technical University. She co-coordinated the symposia on Palestinian Architecture, entitled “Land of dreams to dreamland: dream of a state to a state of a dream”, organized in collaboration with the FRAC -Center Val de Loire. She co-curated Event Horizon exhibition-2016, in collaboration National School of Arts of Bourge. She was member of Re: Territories research project (2016-2018) in collaboration with National School of Arts of Bourge (ENSA). She is currently a co-principle researcher in a research project that considers the women street vendors in the city center of Ramallah/Al-Bireh.

Shaden Awad received her PhD in Architecture from Graz University of Technology. Her PhD research focused on old city of Ramallah, home, perception and Rehabilitation approaches.  She holds an MA in Architectural Conservation from Al Quds University and MSc in Urban Planning and Design from Birzeit University. 

with Dr. Bedour Braker
(Jan Braker Architekt, Hamburg)

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