A significant aspect of Palestinian history and culture can be understood by examining various forms of vernacularity and “informality” which have developed over centuries in response to environmental, socio-economic, and political changes. The historic and contemporary Bedouin, peasant, and urban architecture associated with vernacular and informal modes of living, whether in villages, refugee camps, Jerusalem’s “informal” neighbourhoods, or elsewhere, provide valuable insights into the role of colonialism, capitalism, and modernity in shaping Palestinian built environments. Similar to the histories of other regions worldwide, the vernacular and the informal in Palestine can be intertwined in ways that challenge their conventional understandings and meanings, offering a lens into intricate spatio-temporal relationships.

Key Questions

• What constitutes vernacular and ‘informal’ built environments in Palestine? 
• What commonalities does vernacular architecture in Palestine have with other vernacular forms of architecture found in Bilad al-Sham and the Mediterranean?
• How have colonialism and the forces of modern capitalism contributed to the shaping of the informal built environments? How does informality in Palestine intersect with similar phenomena globally?
• What agency do Palestinians have over the production of their ‘ínformal’ environments? 
• How are the vernacular and the informal intertwined in Palestine and beyond?

Key Cases

• “Unrecognized” Bedouin villages - Al-‘Araqib ( Interactive Encyclopaedia )
• “Unrecognized” Bedouin villages - Umm al-Hiran ( open-access paper in Arabic )
• Campus in Camps ( website )
• Highlands vernacular -the depopulated village of Lifta ( open-access book chapter )
• Highlands vernacular- the village of Deir Ghassana ( open-access book chapter ) 
• Highlands vernacular- the town of Ramallah ( open-access manual in Arabic )
• Informal neighbourhoods in Jerusalem - Kafr Aqab ( interactive website )
• Refugee camps in Palestine - Jabaliya Refugee Camp ( paper )
• Refugee camps in Lebanon - Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp ( paper )
• Refugee camps in Jordan - Al-Wehdat refugee camp ( open-access paper in Arabic )

Key Resources

1. Amiry, Suad. 2017. “Patterns of Settlement in 19th Century Rural Palestine.” In Peasant Architecture in Palestine: Space, Kinship and Gender. Ramallah: Riwaq, 9-36. ( open-access link )
2. Amiry, Suad, and Vera Tamari. 2003. The Palestinian Village Home. 2nd edition. Ramallah: Riwaq, 16 – 33. ( open-access link )
3. Falah, Ghazi. 1985. “How Israel Controls The Bedouin in Israel.’’ Journal of Palestine Studies, 14(2): 35-51. ( open-access link )
4. Berg, Kjersti. n.d. “The Evolving Infrastructure of Palestinian Refugee Camps: Perpetuating the Temporary.” Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. ( open-access link )

بالعربية: بيرغ، كيرستي. د.ت. ” تطوّر البنية التحتية للمخيمات الفلسطيني.“ الموسوعة التفاعلية للقضية الفلسطينية. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 

5. Dajani, Muna, Daniela De Leo, and Nura AlKhalili. 2013. “Planned Informality as a by-product by the Occupation: The Case of Kufr Aqab Neighborhood in Jerusalem North.” Planum, Journal of Urbanism, 26 (1): 2–10. ( open-access link )

Further Resources

Please contact us if you would like access to any resources.

1. Abourahme, Nasser. 2020. “The camp.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 40(1): 35–42. ( open-access link )
2. Abourahme, Nasser. 2014. “Assembling and Spilling‐Over: Towards an ‘Ethnography of Cement’ in a Palestinian Refugee Camp.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39 (2): 200–217. ( link )
3. Ayoub, Venus. 2020. The Problematics of ‘Informal Urbanism’ as a Terminology and its Use to Refer to Palestinian Localities in Israel. Arab Urbanism. ( open-access link )
4. Bshara, Khaldun. 2014. “Spatial Memories: The Palestinian Refugee Camps as Time Machine.” Jerusalem Quarterly , 60 (Autumn): 14-31. (open-access link )
5. Bshara, Khaldun. 2015. “Rural Urbanization: the Commodification of Land in Post-Oslo Palestine.” In Reclaiming Space: The Rehabilitation of 50 Villages in Rural Palestine, edited by Suad Amiry and Khaldun Bshara, 92-103. Ramallah: Riwaq. ( open-access link )
6. Charpentier, Paul. n.d. “Regulating Palestinian Land.” Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. ( open-access link )

بالعربية: شاربنتيه، بيار. د. ت. ”التنظيم القانوني للأراضي في فلسطين.“ الموسوعة التفاعلية للقضية الفلسطينية. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 

7. Clarno, Andy. 2017. “Bethlehem: Neoliberal Colonization.” In Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine/Israel and South Africa after 1994, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 89–124. ( chapter description and WorldCat link )
8. Falah, Ghazi-Walid. 2012. “Growing up in rural Galilee, Palestine: memories of childhood geographies.” Cultural Geographies, 20(3): 299–318. ( link ) 
9. Ghadban, Shadi. 2015. “Palestinian dry stone structures: an endogenous expression of cultural landscape.” Journal of Sustainable Development, Culture, Traditions, 1b (January): 34-47. ( open-access link ) 
10. Jabareen, Yosef, and Orwa Switat. 2019. “Insurgent informality: the struggle over space production between the Israeli state and its Palestinian Bedouin communities.” Space and Polity, 23(1): 92–113. ( open-access link )
11. Ragette, Friedrich. 2003. Traditional Domestic Architecture of the Arab Region. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges ( WorldCat link )
12. Ramadan, Ahmad 2013, “Spatialising the refugee camp.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 38 (1): 65-77. ( link )
13. Rubaii, Kali. 2016. “Concrete and Livability in Occupied Palestine.” Engagement, September 20, 2016. ( open-access link )
14. الصانع، لبنى. 2022. ”رسائل العمران إلى الإنسان.“ ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول )
15. سقف الحيط، يارا. 2015. ”الفراغ المعماري في رام اللّه.“ مجلة بدايات (خريف، 2015). ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 
16. سقف الحيط، رغد. 2022.”جغرافيا الفخار في ريف القدس: من مصادر الطين المحلي إلى شبكات الإنتاج والتوزيع.“ مؤسسة الدراسات الفلسطينية، نوفمبر 08، 2022. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 
17. عرّاف، شكري. (1996).  القرية العربية الفلسطينية: مبنى واستعمالات أراضي. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 
18. عامري، سعاد. 2003. عمارة قرى الكراسي: من تاريخ الإقطاع في ريف فلسطين في القرنين الثامن عشر والتاسع عشر، رام الله: رواق، 24 - 43. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول ) 

Audiovisual Material

1. Dictaphone Group. 2017. “Camp Pause: Stories from Rashidieh Camp and the Sea.” Jadaliyya (Jan 26). ( link ) 

بالعربيّة: مجموعة الدكتافون. 2016. استراحة مخيّم: روايات من مخيم الرشيدية والبحر، جدلية (ديسمبر، 26). ( رابط ) 

2. Fleifel, Mahd, director. A World Not Ours. Nakba Filmworks, 2012. 93 min. ( link )
3. Malas, Mohammad, director. The Dream. Maram Cinema, 1987. 45 min. ( open-access link )

بالعربية: ملص، محمد، مخرج. المنام. سينما مرام. 1987. 45 د. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول )

4. أمارة، أحمد ورامي صايغ. ”الماضي الحاضر الحلقة 85: تاريخ النقب قبل النكبة.“ تقديم رامي صايغ، حركة الشبيبة اليافية، يناير، 11، 2024. بودكاست، رابط يوتيوب: 42:00. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول )
5. خليفي، ميشيل، مخرج. حكاية الجواهر الثلاث. عمر القطان وميشيل خليفي. 1995. 31 د. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول )
6. رمضان، يارا وغدير نجار. ”تراث العمارة المؤقتة - مخيمات اللجوء.“ تقديم غدير نجارة، أبريل، 13، 2023. قناة يوتيوب، رابط يوتيوب: 1:06:09. ( مصدر مفتوح الوصول )

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Image: The neighborhood of Silwan in Jerusalem, 2019. Photograph by Mksg1 .