The Palestinian Sunbird Pavilion is intended as a demonstration showcase for Palestinian cultural identity with its hidden yet, highly creative layers. As such, it will consist of a mixture of live projects alongside more speculative and anticipatory features, which hint at new spatial possibilities. Emblematic of the local bird life is the Palestinian Sunbird, a beautifully coloured and yet commonplace sight in a region known for being one of the busiest corridors for bird migration, suggesting a freedom of movement and hopefulness that seems to lie far beyond the control of any enforced borderlines. Likewise it seeks to merge the ordinary everyday life of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with architectural projects that offer a more vivid emancipatory aesthetic for creating the built environment in Palestine.
The Palestinian Sunbird Pavilion showcases recent projects by the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART) for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These projects mix low-cost practical technologies that save scarce resources such as water and electricity with more speculative ideas that hint at new design and spatial possibilities amid the harsh realities of the Palestinian situation. On the wall are projected images of architectural schemes, sustainable technologies, archaeological heritage, film sequences, and daily patterns of Palestinian cultural life.
In accordance with PART’s self-build housing guidebook and ‘Learning Room’ prototype for the Gaza Strip, the Sunbird Pavilion is constructed of materials like rammed earth or fabric-formed concrete. Two laser-cut timber structures rise above head to allude to the presence of countless birds in the Palestinian skies. The Palestine corridor is one of the most important routes for bird migration in the world, alluding to a freedom of movement and sense of hope that lies far beyond the control of those living on the ground below.
Partners and collaborating institutions
British Council, UK
Palestine Delegation Office, UK
Palestine Film Foundation, UK
Riwaq: Centre for Architectural Conservation, Palestine
Golzari NG Architects, UK
UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, UK
London Festival of Architecture, UK
Rammed Earth, UK
Arsiya, Palestine