So this week we read an article about architecture and how it has been implemented over the years. It seems that there were three big movements that stood out about the rest. One was the sabra which I interpreted was a mixture of ancient Jewish culture and Palestinian vernacular. Could somebody explain what vernacular means in context here? It seems that this style was attempting to combine the best of both worlds allowing the Israelis to "let down their wall" in a way to allow some of the Palestinian culture to slip through.
Another architectural movement was to combine elements of the ancient biblical world with a modern sense of building. I am glad to see that many in the Jewish culture are not afraid to adapt to a new era in time.
Lastly, I think there was also a movement pertaining to presenting Israeli dominance. This one I did not like so much obviously because it does not portray a welcoming community in acceptance of the Palestinian culture.
We also studied the Pyalara website. This is an organization salient to the future existence of a Palestinian state. I enjoyed the quote that was taken from a speech by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that explains that if the Palestinian youth are ignored and shunned from political society then the nation will be "condemned to bleed to death". Youth are that important to the nation's health for a few reasons. First off, they will be the next in line for leadership positions within Palestine. Also, they will be a larger generation then the previous as the population continues to grow. Finally, youth are willing to take more risks that older adults meaning that they can have a greater effect on political media and social revolutions than the adults.
vernacular meaning the common expression (of Palestinian culture). In other words, the native architecture, the design of "common" Palestinian structures: homes, markets, etc. Distinguished from monumental architecture (i.e., big government buildings, mosques, monuments, etc.).
ReplyDeleteFrom my reading, the notion wasn't to allow Palestinian culture to slip through--that was an unintended consequence of the architectural movement. The notion was that a) to create an Israeli identity "true" to the land, b) identify elements of construction/design that are "native" to the landscape, and c) Palestinian design and planning is "native" to the landscape, and therefore is a reference point for any Israeli planning/architecture that is "genuine" and/or connects people to the land and/or fosters a notion of Israeli identity rooted in place.
To me, this provided an opening for a couple things: 1) it references Palestinians as being both "authentic" and "indigenous" to the region; 2) it can be seen as a co-opting of elements of the subaltern culture by the powerful--in essence, a nascent cultural imperialism (another Said book).
I think that in this case vernacular is referring to the common architecture. Usually vernacular is a type of language, at least that is how I see it. But in the article, I think that the author means what is common in Palestinian architecture.
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