"Reconstructing Zion"
Utopia and Nostalgia – Architecture and Ideology in Palestine / Israel

Neri Bloomfield WIZO Academy of Design and Education
Haganim St. 21, Haifa, Israel

December 14, 2004

Throughout the centuries the ancient history and mythology of the Land of
Palestine / Israel has inspired numerous ethnic, cultural, and religious
groups to attempt to reconstruct a lost paradise. Particularly in the
early twentieth century, settlement activities and the production of
physical and cultural space embodied a certain utopian potential that
aimed at anticipating a future model society. Thus the spatial and social
structures of settlements may be interpreted as the result of conflicting
interpretations of history and competing perceptions of the future.

This conference traces the architectural design and symbolic meaning of
settlements, as well as their influence on transformations of the
Palestinian / Israeli environment. Accelerated urban development, shifting
political boundaries, and the ideological appropriation of history
endanger the heritage of these architectural and social experiments and
call for a re-evaluation of the region's architectural history.

The conference has been organized by Dr. Anna Minta (Technical University
Dresden) on behalf of the Goethe-Institute in Tel Aviv and the Neri
Bloomfield WIZO Academy of Design and Education in Haifa.

Further information:
Anna Minta: Mintamailbox.tu-dresden.de
Liora Bar-Am Shahal: shahalmacam.ac.il

PROGRAM

09:00 Welcome
David Alexander, President of Neri Bloomfield WIZO Academy
Hans-Juergen Nagel, Head of the Goethe-Institute Tel Aviv

09:15 Introduction
Anna Minta (Dresden):
Conflicting utopias – The politics of constructing space and identity in
the Holy Land

Jewish and Christian Perspectives / Utopias of Zion

09:45 Ita Heinze-Greenberg (Delft):
Eden as model – Zionist settlement concepts

10:15 Yossi Ben-Artzi (Haifa):
Landscape and ideology – The case of the German Colony in Haifa

10:45 Discussion

11:00 Coffee break

Jewish and Arab Perspectives and City Cultures

11:30 Haim Fireberg (Alfee Menashee):
From mandate to state – Tel Aviv: town planning policy, spatial design
and civic order

12:00 Abed Badran (Kabul):
Transformation of the Israeli-Palestinian Arab village – 'Losing confidence'

12:30 Discussion

13:00 Lunch break

Jewish Perceptions and Strategies after 1948

14:00 Diana Dolev (Bejamina):
Designing the Hebrew University as a symbol of Jewish rebirth and
reconstruction

14:30 Alona Nitzan-Shiftan (Haifa):
The reconstruction of Jerusalem after 1967

15:00 Discussion

15:30 Coffee break

Preservation Strategies

16:00 Nazmi Al-Ju'beh (Ramallah):
Palestinian vernacular architecture – Meanings of and efforts at preservation

16:30 Saadia Mandl (Tel Aviv):
Israeli preservation and politics

17:00 Panel Discussion: Heritage – Vision and Politics
Participants: Nazmi Al-Ju'beh, Abed Badran, Shmuel Groag, Saadia Mandl,
Arie Sivan, Haim Yacobi

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