Shatana visionary intervention

How to make a new beginning in North of Jordan?

Shatana, one of Irbid’s most beautiful villages, is located in south Irbid, 70km away from Amman, The village was named Shatana in the 16th century, it stands for “distant land”. Never the less, , the area is much older, as you would find roman wells and once inhabitant caves surrounding the village, travelling through the street, one passes through a vast and deep quarry covering a large expansive hilly area covered with oak,pine and olive , the road rises from this rocky moonscape into a pastoral landscape, and that’s when on find himself in this peaceful village.
Astonishingly an area as rich as shatana with culture tradition and environment, is being neglected , as its population resided in the last year dramatically, immigrating towards the city is vastly evolving due to the lack of opportunities and facilities, a few steps are taken towards refreshing this village, by throwing the international artist workshop, that involves the participation of artists across the world, this on the other hand has refreshed village, but unfortunately it only lasts for two weeks, thus no drastic changes are made.
The project articulates on these motifs , architecture confronts tradition and can reformulate memory in a way that points to the future, the goal is to bring tradition aesthetic quality in an entirely novel and previously unforeseen way that discloses that philosophy of time and place and word existence.
The building is not an object to be viewed, it is formed merely by its relationship to everything that surrounds it, both from a very physical and environmentally significant way , this relationship creates a spiritual connection both with its place and with the people who enter the realm, to have a better understanding of the place, Old houses have been reused- and regenerated in a modern way into small B&B or exhibition installments along the path that leads to the main building, this will evoke feelings, when old meets past, a new perception will be concluded and a new bond.
Our goal was for the visitors of shatana, to pass through the whole village , this will be of great benefit for the habitats socially and economically, this was also traced into the main building
The way the building is formed creates a dialogue within the silhouette of the mountain-range behind , being aware of the horizon line, the space and direction makes you feel like are in the middle of the space (shatana)