Architecture as a Force of Control - July 2023

This project, supported by the Judith Lee Stronach Travel Scholarship, examines the architecture of refugee camps and the ways in which spatial organization shapes lived environments and everyday experience. The research focuses in particular on the West Bank, using architecture as a lens through which to reflect on how the built environment can influence social relations, movement, and access, and how spatial systems can both enable and constrain daily life.

The accompanying articles, drawn from a range of sources and cited at the beginning of each page, are presented alongside photographs taken during the summer of 2023. Together, text and image provide contextual frameworks that support a deeper reading of the work. The project is informed by field visits to Hebron, Al Fawwar, and Bethlehem.

I am deeply grateful to the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, and especially to Judith Lee Stronach, for the support that made this research possible.
I would also like to thank the Palestinian Center for Education & Cultural Exchange, as well as Muhammad, Amir, Jalal, Abd Alrahman, Manar, and Adam, for their generosity, hospitality, and guidance throughout my travels.