Appropriate Technologies in Gaza: Design Possibilities in Extreme Need Areas

The Italian architecture group Architettura e Cooperazione (ARCò) built two kindergartens in the village of Um al Nasser in the Gaza Strip with the involvement of the local community in 2011 and 2016. In these projects, the typological characteristics of Islamic architecture are considered in combination with environmental factors to create a truly sustainable architecture. In the Gaza Strip, isolation, difficulty in procuring building materials, and war make a single approach to design untenable. Building projects must be guided by attention to available materials, simple construction methods, and careful use of water. ARCò’s approach also considers how to interpret cultural, physical, and climatic contexts in vernacular architecture. In this sense, vernacular architecture is an effective abacus of successful solutions. Building and design aesthetics are not a purely formal result, but a product of the experience of the place in which they are located.