Israel Lessons

Ein urbanistisches Forschungsprojekt zur Entwicklung sozialer Räume und urbaner Strukturen basierend auf der Kultivierung des Bodens und religiöser Überhöhung einer Landschaft

This book, based on recent research at EPFL's Laboratory Basel (laba), offers a critical look at the area that today forms the state of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and the lasting historical role of agriculture, which sprang from the Neolithic revolution in the Middle East, had for a wide range of aspects of human social and ecological development. Topics considered include agriculture's role in territorial appropriation and domestication, in structuring the development of urbanization, in creating a national homeland narrative for the Jewish state, and in changing the climate. Israel Lessons explores in particular the three major types of Israeli agricultural development: vernacular Palestinian/Bedouin, socialist utopian Kibbutz/Moshav, and contemporary high-tech desert farming.

Presenting findings through text matched to striking images, graphics, and maps, and featuring proposals for architectural intervetions, Israel Lessons demonstrates how facts and narratives related to agriculture and the climate crisis are intertwined with geopolitics and sectarian ideals of an earthly paradise.

Untersucht die Rolle der Landwirtschaft in der urbanen Strukturierung und der Schaffung von nationalen Narrativen sowie in der lokalen Klimaentwicklung Visualisiert die Forschungsergebnisse in informativen Grafiken, Karten und Fotografien Präsentiert Projekte von Studierenden für architektonische Interventionen

Autorentext

Barbara Costa is Head of Research at laba, where she currently also pursues her PhD degree. She graduated from University of Porto's Faculty of Architecture and also holds a Master's degree in drawing from University of Lisbon's Faculty of Fine Arts.

Harry Gugger is an architect and a Professor at Ecole Polytéchnique Fédérale de Lausanne's (EPFL) School of Architecture since 2005. He is head of EPFL's Basel-based satellite studio Laboratory Basel (laba).

Salomé Gutscher is an architect and working as a teaching assistant at laba. She graduated in architecture from EPFL and Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Stefan Hörner graduated in architecture from ETH Zurich and is laba's Head of Teaching.

Charlotte Truwant studied architecture at Ecole Polytéchnique Fédérale de Lausanne and works as a teaching assistant at laba.