2004 Architecture & Planning Papers - 2004 New Land for Peace - The Macro Center

Egypt Gaza Interface Tel Aviv Coastal Islands Vernacular Kahn Younis Peninsula with Port Linear island with Port Marina Cove Islands near Wadi Desert Settlements

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Architecture & Planning Papers

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Seven Design Locations: Israel, Gaza Strip, Egypt

Egypt Gaza Interface, Egypt
Design Team: Jeffery Massey, Sean Schmigle

Located off the coast and in Egypt near the Rafah border, this scheme investigates the possibility of land reclamation and development of existing coastal land in Egypt.

Tel Aviv Coastal Islands, Israel
Design Team: Stefanie Balzotti, Robert Larson, Dennis Morelli, Vincent Sorrentino

This location and design investigation responds to a higher per capita income of the Israeli population combined with normal population growth and the potential land needed for immigration.

Vernacular Kahn Younis, Gaza
Design Team: Michael Gersht, Christopher Nardi, Akta Patel, Martina Ruhfass

The name assigned to this island development gains its meaning from the language of the master plan and design.

Peninsula with Port, Gaza
Design Team: William Bartell, John Masson, Sean Schmigle, Joshua Vacca

Located off the coast and connected to the Gaza strip near Gaza, this scheme creates a deep sea port three miles off the coast connected by filled land on which manufacturing and assembly facilities are placed.

Linear Island with Port, Gaza
Design Team: Tibor Martin, Aaron Opalka, Samuel Ruberti, Benjamin Zoghbi

Initially, this land creation focuses on an isolated floating cargo facility served by Ferry service for workers.

Marina Cove Islands near Wadi, Gaza
Design Team: Amy Hutchins, Jeffrey Massey, Kevin Morin

This scheme creates a series of Islands off the coast of Gaza which has services that are meant to attract tourists and corporate businesses.

Desert Settlements / Desert City, Israel
Design Team: Keith Boyle, Micheal Cortese, Matthew Fallows, Nicholaus Lupi, Brian Troie

With the abundance of land in the Negev Desert that is currently unused because of adverse and severe climate conditions, this study investigates agricultural based Settlements with small Desert Cities east of the coast within the Negev Desert.

Conditions and Standards

A basic strategy for all designs is to create, through various kinds of land reclamation, business development, creation of employment opportunity for workers, reducing unemployment, raising per capita income, increasing security and an improved standard of living for the people of the region.

These schemes assume the relocation of Israelis from within the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank Settlements as proposed in various peace initiatives.

Immigration to Palestine and Israel from outside the Middle East will continue.

Housing needs for Palestinians for the next ten years will be +/- 260,000 (UN Governing Covering Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Program)

Population figures included in the various schemes assume 5 members per unit of housing.

Average size of a housing unit is targeted at 80 square meters.

Social / Economic / Political / Geographic Design Strategies

Existing Conditions		Design Directions
High unemployment, low income/capita, shortage of land, existing intensive land use with higher densities, high birthrate/continued immigration into the region, with security needs	=	Increased employment, higher income, island creation of land with off shore development with land connections with existing infrastructure improvements.
High unemployment, low income per capita, an abundance of undeveloped land, low density of use with little development. Security requirements included.	=	Increased employment, higher income, economic development, improvements to existing infrastructure harbor and port serves offshore in secure Arab environment.
Low unemployment, higher standard of living, immigration into the region with internal refugee needs, high density and heavy land use; security needs.	=	Increase land development which serves higher income families with more recreation/tourist services, more specialized housing. New land development offshore.
High unemployment, lower standard of living, immigration into the region, population increases, abundance of land, with little current use, little existing development because of severe climate conditions	=	Reclaim land, construct new infrastructure, expand scientific research, development of existing land for growing food and creating economic development.

Water

Water is a precious commodity in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. About two-thirds of the existing fresh water supply comes from reservoirs in the North. The main underground distribution system is the National Water Carrier that runs from the North to the South providing water to cities and settlements along the way. Supplemental water supply is provided from treated wastewater, brackish water and water harvesting (collection, storage and storm runoff).

The existing water supply is dwindling with estimates by some that Israel will face a major water crisis by 2012 (Ben Guiron University water expert Adar questions JNF plans for surface reservoirs) A major potential source of water exists below the Negev Desert. This desert, which comprises 60% of Israeli territory with only 7% of its population has below it a huge aquifer. The water itself is brackish, somewhat salty (4 grams / cubic meter; sea water has 35 grams of salt / cubic meter) but can be and is used for special crops and special industries. De-ionization of brackish water is less expensive by 1/3 than desalinization of sea water. Forty desalinization units have been erected over the past few decades. Of these 23 treat brackish water by reverse osmosis on a commercial basis (Israel ministry of Foreign Affairs, principal water sources, Aug. 1994).

Additional issues with water use and distribution exist. Increasing salinity in the ground water in Gaza City is of concern. Only 70% of units are connected to the sewage network (Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme). The preservation and supplementing of water sources for the Gaza Strip is particularly acute. The primary cause of deterioration of water quality in Gaza include: sea water encroachment, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides and apparent infiltration of treated sewage and agricultural drainage into the water system. The shallow water table often exists less than 2m below the surface depleting fresh water by the incursion of sea water.

Airport Facilities

The existing airport constructed south of Rafah in the Gaza Strip does not operate at this time. It was removed by Israel in 2002. Some of the infrastructure is possible to reconstruct. The reactivation of a close airport facility would be beneficial to an improved economy related to a number of proposals within the Gaza Strip or the design proposals south of the Gaza strip border in Egypt.

A report has been prepared independently by Marion White, Architect and Airport planner for HOK International Limited which is available for review elsewhere. Breifly, with reconstruction and upgrading, the existing single runway footprint and adjacent parallel taxiway will support a variety of contemporary wide body aircraft including B727s and B737s and handle an annual passenger count of 7.3 million assuming 400 aircraft movements / day with 50 passengers / flight. Four gates would be provided.

Other required services that would include construction of a Flight Operations Tower, fire and rescue facility, aircraft Maintenance Facilities, Cargo / Mail / storage facilities, passenger terminal buildings with parking and road infrastructures. Planning that would relate to many of the proposed land reclamation or land creation proposals, would suggest that additional airport related businesses, as well as fabrication and manufacturing facilities would be integrated into the reconstruction of the new Gaza International Airport.

Climatic and Environmental Concerns

The Gaza strip is located in a transitional zone between the arid desert climate of the Sinai Peninsula and the temperate and semi-humid Mediterranean climate along the coast. The average daily mean temperature ranges from 25 degrees C in summer to 13 degrees C in winter.

The rainy season extends from October to early May and rainfall peaks in December thru February. The average mean rainfall on the Gaza strip amounts to about 400mm. Rain in the Negev Desert is negligible.

Wind is constant, coming primarily from the SW during the spring and summer and during the winter months from the W NW across the Mediterranean.

Architectural responses to Environment conditions are many. They include the creation of shade in many forms (roof overhangs and shades are the simplest), photovoltaic arrays for hot water, wind towers for ventilation, high windows for ventilation from high ceilings, small apertures in building walls on the south and south west sides of buildings, wood screens and grills to allow air to pass by eliminate the sun and privacy issues, use of light colored materials to create more heat reflectivity, porticos, thick wall construction to reduce heat transfer to the interior of buildings, insulated roofs, moisture producing elements in public and private spaces. More technical and experimental methods of cooling include geothermal systems using heat exchangers to provide special building cooling where necessary.

Higher urban densities create building shadows and shade and more comfortable spaces for people. In low rise housing the use of ground floor walled courts, courtyards, and walled roof spaces do the same.

Site consideration responses include the use of pervious surfaces to allow water to pass directly to underground aquifers, pervious driving surfaces, the capture of rain water for direct use, spot irrigation systems and selected lants for minimum water use, selection and planting of trees for shade and cooling. Waste treatment plants would continue to recycle water for secondary and additional uses.

Power Generation

All power for these projects assumes a self sufficient direction for what is proposed and ultimately created. The major power sources include photovoltaic arrays for electrical power from the sun. It includes proposals using wind turbine farms off the coast in the Mediterranean. Geothermal cooling from the sea is considered where buildings need special cooling.

Power reduction strategies would be a common theme for these new structures. With natural cooling created by air movement through buildings, the requirement for power is reduced and power conservation achieved. The methods listed in Climate and Environmental Response would produce more sustainable environment which uses natural elements to help create a more positive and comfortable living experience. These methods are proposed to conserve power.

Shipping Facility

An integral part of most of these land reclamation or land creation proposals involve the design and construction of harbor facilities. Located on the edge of the Mediterranean with direct access to the economics of Europe, the economic and job creation returns of this direction, appear clear.

Deep harbor container ships services require a depth of 20 meters. This depth is achievable at various distances from the coast.

With approval time and construction scheduling related to peace initiatives, various construction options may be possible. Prefabricated "floating" harbor facilities, moved from other manufacturing centers outside the region, may serve as a first phase "seed" to allow other economic responses to follow.

with an overview of international agreements, investment strategies, and political realities, constructing these services may include distances of three miles from existing coastlines in international waters.

Custom in design and function, it is conceivable that these structures served by ferry service, could include multilevel fabrication and / or assembly jobs within 5 years. Future expansion of the concept would include causeway connection for trucking.