Gaza shelters reimagined as memorials and study spaces at Venice Architecture Biennale

Project by Dima Srouji and Piero Tomassoni is being highlighted at the Venice Architecture Biennale

Staircases are a key component of Time Reclaiming Structures. Photo: Dima Srouji

Stairwells often take on a new function during war and natural disasters.

These in-between spaces – typically designed to merely connect one floor to another – become something else entirely in moments of crisis. Structurally resilient and tucked away from exposed facades, they serve as improvised shelters where people gather in hope, fear and resilience. Their mundane utility is transformed. In the face of destruction, stairwells become spaces where life clings on.

Time Reclaiming Structures, a project by Dima Srouji and Piero Tomassoni that is being highlighted at Venice Architecture Biennale, draws inspiration from these spaces to create a series of structures that are as much a dedication to Gaza’s heritage as they are shelters, study spaces and memorials. Stairs are a central component of their design.

“Anyone that has experienced war will have this intimate relationship with the architecture of a staircase,” Srouji says.

“What’s interesting about it is that the form of a staircase is not exactly what saves you. It’s more the intimacy, the magic that starts to happen in that space during hours of shelter where you’re reading under the staircase with your dad, or doing your homework.”

Time Reclaiming Structures are as much shelters as they are shelters and dedicated study spaces. Photo: Dima Srouji

Gaza Shelters, the first iteration of Time Reclaiming Structures, reflects these nuances. At first glance, the structures proposed in the project initially seem simple in their design. Rectangular in shape, comprising no more than four walls and a roof, they are adjoined by a moveable staircase.

Yet, the central structures as well as their staircases have been designed with more than one purpose. The structures are each dedicated to a branch of knowledge that are threatened by Israel’s attack on Gaza.

These include spiritual, medical, environmental, artisanal, architectural, culinary studies. The roofs of these rectangular structures are engraved with heritage sites in the Palestinian enclave.

The ceilings underneath feature the topographies of the Strip’s natural terrains. The walls display artefacts, archeological finds, photographs and objects reflecting the purpose of the structure. The stairs also function as a library and study space.

The central structures as well as their staircases have been designed with more than one purpose. Photo: Dima Srouji

“Each one focuses on a different branch of knowledge,” Srouji says. She offers the one dedicated to the medical as an example, saying it is “one of the most urgent spheres to think about.”

The proposed structure would contain films about Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the Palestinian surgeon who has repeatedly travelled to his homeland from the UK to help those affected by the cyclical Israeli onslaught.

It would also include research by US academic Jasbir Puar, whose work delves into the maiming of Palestinian men and the use of prosthetics.

“You’ll also see work on the history of gauze, because it was first invented in Gaza and the word gauze is actually derived from Gaza,” Srouji says.

Meanwhile, the heritage sites engraved on the roofs, and which are viewable by climbing the stairs, are informed by Srouji’s own work in archeological sites in collaboration with The Palestinian Museum. Highlighted sites include the Great Omari Mosque, Byzantine Church of Jabalia, the Church of Saint Porphyrius, all of which have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli air strikes.

“It also includes some of the tunnel structures as well and which are archaeological features,” Srouji says.

“People don't realise this, but there's the St Helena Tunnel that is 4000 years old. It used to connect downtown central Gaza to historic Gaza to the coast. The tunnels are also archeological heritage sites. They're not just sites of resistance.”

The roofs of Time Reclaiming Structures are engraved with heritage sites in Gaza. Photo: Dima Srouji

Time Reclaiming Structures was inspired both by the biennale’s theme of collective knowledge, as well as global geopolitical realities – chief among them the war in Gaza.

The structures make a profound argument about memory, attention and empathy in the age of crisis. The spaces that come as part of the project are not meant to only reclaim heritage sites, but also time.

“The title was probably the hardest part of the project for us,” Srouji says. “Trying to configure, not just what’s happening in Gaza in terms of genocide, but also other things the world is dealing with today can be a point of empathy and solidarity for Palestine. That’s where Piero’s research comes in, in terms of slowing down time, and brings some capacity for empathy.”

“Humans are now in a condition of almost inability to take the necessary time to understand the history that they are living,” Tomassoni adds.

“Because there is no time for the deep thinking that is required to elaborate a philosophical or historical understanding of the past but also of the present. If we lose that then we are not going to be able to resolve any of our problems.”

The ceilings feature the topographies of Gaza's natural terrains. Photo: Dima Srouji

This is how the idea behind Time Reclaiming Structured emerged, aiming to create forms that act as shelters as well as contemplative spaces – places that protect, isolate and allow for reflection amid chaos.

“It can be applied to Gaza right now but also a number of other places,” Tomassoni says. “The structure is partially monumental when seen from outside. But then when you go inside, it becomes small gallery, museum or chapel.”

Srouji and Tomassoni were initially aiming to build three of the structures for the Venice Biennale, however when they found out the Arsenale was the only space that would be showcasing projects unaffiliated with National Pavilions, they knew they wouldn’t have the opportunity to build any of them for the event. Instead, they decided to feature all the structures as renders within the Arsenale exhibition space.

However, the duo are still keen on developing the project and building them in stone, preferably limestone, given its connotations to Palestine.

“We see this as the first iteration of Time Reclaiming Structures, which could go in many directions” Tomassoni says. “It could also be the first step to building a Palestinian Pavilion, for example.”