“From Here There is No Wall, Only Sky”

Everything I make should serve the World in a positive way. Of this, I was always sure. As I limboed between education and employment, between Montreal, New York, then Paris, I kept true to this belief. In a small red-doored studio near Place de la République, I searched the web for NGO contacts and, almost formulaically, emailed them with offerings of free design work. I would reach 40 on a good day. I called it “Design Without Borders.”

Al Rowwad is an “independent Center for artistic, cultural, performing and visual arts training for children and youth” based in Palestine, founded in Aida refugee camp - Bethlehem in 1998. They seek to create a “safe, creative, peaceful and healthy envionment” to foster “positive change for generations to come.” They responded to my offer, asking for a proposal for a rooftop theatre structure. I had never ventured into architecture, but inspiration was not hard to find. For the right projects, it never is.

I wanted this structure to communicate hope, and peace, to reflect the essence of Al Rowwad. I wanted it to bring positivity to the community of the Central West Bank, to its children, and to the city as a whole. To use a 3D space, and a skyline, to communicate.

Engineering schematics and 3D renders done in collaboration with Abdul Basit, freelance architect and engineer.