Return villages - Reconstruction of AL-Qastal village

The project is aim to reconstruction of one of Palestine villages that were destroyed by the occupation forces in 1948. The chosen village is ALQastal village in Jerusalem.
The project aims to secure a successful solution for the reconstruction of AL-Qastal village. the occupation ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 depopulated 675 towns and villages, mostly destroyed.

There are more than 600 villages in Palestine destroyed by the occupation in 1948, It Is the year when the Palestinians were expelled from their homes and lost their homeland.
The project proposes an urban planning for the returning after being free from the occupation.
It aims mainly on the Palestinians right over the lands.
the project will be an answer to the question
"How will the villages of Palestine be when the refugees return from the diaspora?"

The village is located on the top of Al-Qastal hill, which was inhabited by 104 people before 1948. Now, the number of refugees from the village is estimated at 1500, and all the houses of the village were demolished during the Nakba .

There is a castle on the top of the hill, a small Roman castle that still exists, and there are also trenches around the castle that were used for military purposes.
The village of Qastal is located in an important location for Jerusalem, overlooking the Jerusalem-Jaffa road, which is still being used.
On the land of Qastal in 1948, the battle of Qastal took a place. and Abd al-Qadir al-Husseini have been martyred in this battle - one of the most important leaders of Palestine.

The residents were able to liberate their village from the occupation forces in that battle, but after the martyrdom of the commander, everyone went to his funeral and left the village ,so the occupation was able to control it.

Accordingly, the reconstruction strategy will be as follows:
reconstruction of the village by tracering buildings before destruction, then restore the old skin of some important buildings and make them fit the requirements of the current era.

Reconstruction will include:
Keep the remaining castle as a symbol of stagnation
Reconstruction of the village entrance
Reconstruction of buildings in the same place - as much as possible - taking into account the different spaces and functions of buildings in the current era.
Revive old memories through urban spaces that have historical symbolism

We will begin to redesign the destroyed villages in order to affirm the right of return. This is itself a victory and a challenge to the occupation.
Is to revive the beautiful spirit to the village of Qastal in the city of peace - Jerusalem - despite everything passed by and its people of years of death and displacement, it is still beautiful as its people.
The first Arab village occupied in 1948, after a violent battle led by Abdul Qader Husseini, who was martyred in this battle, the battle took place because of its strategic location , West Jerusalem.

"اننا لم نزل جميلين رغم كل سنوات الموت التي قضيناها تحت الاحتلال , بصراحة ; جمال كهذا ولو كان رمزيا يجعل الانسان يحس بانه كان فوق الاحتلال لا تحته"
ابراهيم نصرالله

This project was designed by Yazan Nasrallah as graduation project for Bachelor Degree from University of Petra Supervised by Dr. Hadeer Merza -Dean of Faculity Architecture-