International Workshop co-hosted by Sapir College and the Hebrew University

Sapir is leading the way to understanding the geopolitical impact on regional architecture.

The College together with Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently hosted a 3-day international workshop, titled: Networking the MENA (Middle East and North Africa): Interregional Architectural Transfers in Times of Global Transformation Convened and organized by Dr. Inbal Ben-Asher Gitler, faculty member of Sapir’s Communications and Culture, Creation and Production Departments, together with Dr. Tawfiq Da’adli, faculty member of Hebrew University’s Art History Department. The event was generously funded by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Sapir College and the Hebrew University.

This unique, interdisciplinary workshop brought together scholars from Israel, Germany, Greece and the USA to discuss architectural transfers of the twentieth century in the Middle East and North Africa. Participants spent three intensive days learning about fascinating research projects and generating discussions about networks in the field of architecture, urbanism and infrastructure. These networks existed within the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate and post-WWII Middle East and North Africa. Studying them provides new perspectives on global transfers, their adaptation and interpretation, and facilitates new directions in researching our region.

The last day of the workshop included a tour of the southern cities of Rahat and Sderot, which provided an unmediated look at aspects of the Israeli built environment.