Future Architecture is a project by the London/Bethlehem Architectural Studio directed by Palestinian Sandi Hilal, Italian Alessandro Petti, and Israeli Eyal Weizman. The current exhibition presents a stereoscopic video documentation made as part of the project, Future Architecture: Psagot/ElBireh, where architects Armin Linke, Francesco Mattuzzi, and Renato Rinaldi propose a new use for evacuated Israeli settlements and military bases in the Palestinian Authority’s territory. The project uses the language of architecture to articulate the spatial dimension of a process of decolonization (colony/settlement ”liberation”). Two disparate video works refer to two different sites: the Jewish settlement Psagot established in July 1981 as part of the ”compensations” for the evacuees of Yamit in the Sinai, and the military base Oush Grab adjacent to Beit Sahour, evacuated by the IDF in May 2006. The settlement Psagot was selected as the first ”laboratory” for architectural conversion. With a populace of 1,700, consisting mainly of American Jews, it was selected due to its strategic spatial location, on a hilltop towering to 900 meters, overlooking the entire area. Prior to its occupation by Israel in 1967, the hill was intended as a tourist resort. The architects acknowledge the fact that the settlements are one of the sorest spots of Israeli domination, yet their proposal is not intended to find solutions for the demands of either side. Therefore they avoid the terminology often used in the political discourse in order to find a ”solution” for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The use of the term ”deconolonization” does not imply the forced transfer of inhabitants and communities, but rather offers consensual physical intervention which is intended to open new horizons for change, as part of which Palestinian and Jewish citizens will be able to integrate. The second video piece refers, as aforesaid, to a project already performed in situ. The former military base was erected in the northern entrance to the Palestinian city Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, in the Mandatory period. Between 1948 and 1967 it functioned as a Jordanian army base, and from 1967 to 2006—as an IDF base. Its evacuation by Israeli soldiers was swift, carried out in the middle of the night, and by morning, the Palestinians entered and emptied it of the remaining equipment. As part of the evacuation agreement with the Palestinian Authority it was agreed that the place would not become a police station, but would be transferred to the hands of the Beit Sahour Municipality to serve as a public space. Thus, the new outline plan for the base environment includes a future residential neighborhood, a hospital, and a public park at the foot of the mountain. A playground has already been built on site, as well as a restaurant and an open air reception area, exemplifying the functional conversion of the compound and its adaptation to the needs of the local Palestinian community.
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