Workshop in Birzeit. Courtesy Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari.
Birzeit Village. CC Image by ~Magne on Flickr
Urban Strategy. Courtesy Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari.
Architects Yara Sharif and Nasser Goldzari are currently working in the Palestinian town of Birzeit and it’s surrounding villages focusing on the preservation of historic village centres, tackling pressing issues about the current situation of Palestinian villages, their needs, and the importance of sustaining rural cultural heritage. Sharif and Goldzari will be presenting their project for The Palestinian Centre for Architectural Conservation in Palestine and will be giving an insight into the reality of the villages without land.
About Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari
Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari are practicing architects and partners in NG Architects, London. They are also lecturers at Oxford Brookes University as well as the University of Westminster. Their work stretches between the UK and the Middle East, where they mainly look at design as a mean to facilitate and empower communities; all in search for spatial possibilities.
They have been working extensively in Palestine over the past few years with different organizations like UN-Habitat, British Council, as well NGOs. We have been involved in collaborative work between NG Architects and Riwaq – a centre for architectural conservation in Palestine – on the regeneration of 50 historic centres. Our collaborative work on the historic centre of Birzeit has won the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Golzari and Sharif have co-founded the Palestinian Regeneration Team (PART) along with Professor Murray Fraser. PART is a design-led research group that aims to search for creative and responsive spatial practices in Palestine to heal the fractures caused by the Israeli Occupation.
Their research have been published widely, recently Yara has been granted the 2013 commendation award – RIBA’s President Award for Research for Outstanding PhD Thesis – for her PhD by Design entitled: Searching for Spaces of Possibilities and Spaces of Imagination within the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict. While Nasser Golzari has just published his co-edited book along with Murray Fraser entitled Architecture and Globalization in the Persian Gulf Region by Ashgate Publishing.