ECOWEEK Workshop at IPCRI Conference

The ECOWEEK Workshop at IPCRI Conference was completed successfully on October 23, 2010. The workshop took place on October 22-23, 2010, during the IPCRI Conference in Beit Jala, West Bank (Palestinian Authority). For two days, a small group of Israeli, Palestinian, Greek and Italian architects and Architecture students, prepared proposals for the new 'green' IPCRI Center, at the Tantur Compound in East Jerusalem.

The proposals were presented on October 23, 2010 during the IPCRI Conference to the IPCRI board and the IPCRI Conference participants. The feedback and criticism were very positive and the planning will soon enter the next phase, namely, the presentation of the proposal to the IPCRI partners that will share the new Center, and once the proposal is finalized, the project will be presented to the Tantur Institute and to the Vatican for approval.

The next round for design and planning brainstorming on the new 'green' IPCRI Center at Tantur in East Jerusalem, will take place in the summer 2011, during the next ECOWEEK 2011 International Conference and Workshop.

If you are interested in joining us for the planning and design of this exciting and REAL project, contact us at ecoweek[at]ecoweek.org

For more details and for the presentation of the completed workshop click here

THE WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENT

IPCRI (Israeli Palestinian Center for Research and Information) is located today inside the Tantur compound in East Jerusalem (opposite Beit Zafafa and very near Mar Elias monastery). Tantur is a Theological School located on land owned by the Vatican.

IPCRI is interested in building a new building inside Tantur to house 4 Israeli-Palestinian Peace organizations, making this building a unique center for cooperation for peace.

ECOWEEK has been invited to hold design workshops to propose design ideas for this new building. The first workshop on the IPCRI project took place during ECOWEEK 2010 in July, and produced some very unique ideas. This new workshop will give us the opportunity to go through one more round of brainstorming and ideas for IPCRI, before these ideas are further processed and conveyed to Tantur and the Vatican.

The IPCRI project is a REAL PROJECT. The more ideas we generate and the more attractive our building proposal is, the more chances we have to see this building built. So, it is a very unique opportunity for all who wish to participate!

THE LOCATION

Beit Jala is a unique location, very near Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. It is a location where both Israelis, Palestinians and international participants can come without the need for permits. Therefore, both Israeli, Palestinian and international young architects and students of Architecture are invited to join the workshop during the day, with the option of returning home at night or spending the night at Talitakumi hostel. Talitakumi is a beautiful campus worth seeing.

PARTICIPATION

Places are very limited. Participation is open only to students of Architecture from the 3rd year up. Young architects � no more than 5 years out of school � are also welcome to participate. We already have a great team of architects that will lead the workshop � among them Dan Price, Mai Haseba, Ohad Yehieli, Ziad Jallad and myself, while we are expecting more expert architects to join us. If you are an architect and wish to join this unique ECOWEEK workshop, please contact me at elias[at]ecoweek.org

ABOUT ECOWEEK

ECOWEEK is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) with international activity. Its mission is to raise environmental awareness and to promote the principles of Integrated Development Worth-Living (Sustainable Development). Among ECOWEEK activities is the sharing of knowledge and expertise through the training of young professionals in 'green' Architecture and design, community responsibility and sustainability. ECOWEEK was established in Greece in 2005, and today is active in the SE Mediterranean region. ECOWEEK ... habits change ... climate change

Download PDF ECOWEEK 2010 in the Middle East SHORT REPORT (English)
Download PDF ECOWEEK 2010 SHORT WORKSHOP REPORT (English)