Exhibition/Expedition

Exhibition/Expedition
The study of ayoubi quarters in Salihiye
Graduation Thesis

Salihiye is a very unique part of Damascus, it’s an 800 year old urban fabric that projects the cultural and social progress of Damascus on the streets, avenues and walls. Typologically speaking, buildings in Salihiye are ancient ruins, traditional courtyard houses, ancient public facilities, modern housing blocks and informal housing. It’s a constant dialogue between vernacular and modern architecture. Due to this variety in form and space and the unpredictable future of the area, we focused on establishing a relation between what’s old and what’s modern that can sustain the changes brought by time and the various needs of the modern lifestyle, a functional relation between old and new changing through time that reflect the history of Salihiye as a starting point into the future. To achieve this relation and engage the people with their abandoned heritage, we proposed several activities that will help the residents improve themselves.

The first part of the project is a machine that turns the past into future, a cube that changes its function from a museum into an institution containing multipurpose halls used as work spaces or classrooms. The Second part is an adaptable public space that ranges in use from a bazar to a gallery to an amphitheater or just a public space for people to meet. Finally there’s a library, an auditorium and a hostel.