“50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya”

On Monday 24 October 2016 we make a photowalk in the village of Asira ash Shamaliya near Nablus Palestine. The group consists of a mixture of architects of RIWAQ and interested persons from the village itself. Participating: Aya Tahhan and Renad Shqeirat from Riwaq, Wael Sawalha and Nasr Yaseen employees in the municipality, Samer Sawalha photographer, Ahmad Yaseen student, Rana Yaseen interior designer, Ehab Yaseen estate agent, Rita Yaseen architect.

Asira ash Shamaliya -  Historically, home gardens were main elements in residential architecture; people grew fruitful trees, herbs, shrubs and flowers in their courtyards or in their gardens surrounding their houses. Through the years…
Aya Tahhan – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Asira ash Shamaliya -  I am on my own. Stainless gloomy is this place. An eerie silence prevails. I was left alone in the world of silence. Dreams were yesterday’. This empty house…
Rita Ziad Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

I did not need any help I am still strong…
Ehab Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Despite the harshness of life and the run down home, we still keep up with technological advance, the proof being these satellite dishes on this partly destroyed building that we…
Wael Salem Sawalha – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

I adore this place because it is my first primary school, where I spent 6 years in a row. I transitioned between all the classrooms in the building before it…
Wael Salem Sawalha – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

The beauty of the olive season is that it brings people from different walks of life together. It is the season of prosperity and blessings to us Palestinians, that brings…
Wael Salem Sawalha – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

A drawing of the holy Kaaba on the wall of houses, with writings such as (blessed pilgrimage, may sins be forgiven, and may you have prosperous trade). These are phrases…
Rita Ziad Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Cars like all cars manufactured by multinational corporations, but their color here is specific to their line of work, where they are used to transport people between village and cities…
Nasr Samer Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

In some communities there is a misconception against women That women cannot make anything work. And that women are only suitable for the housekeeping and raising children and preparing food…
Rana Bassam Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Inhabitants of this house has moved out far away, even the path has moved out with them, leaving it with no road leading to it. The grass is occupying the…
Ahmad Kamel Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

’Non Stop’ is the central notion to the Users script of Asira ash Samaliya. It is a constant moving back and forth between past, present and future. You cannot…
Lino Hellings – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

What would you do if I bought this piece of meat ? سؤال واحد . ماذا كنت ستفعل اذا اشتريت قطعة اللحم هذه…
Rana Bassam Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Iron bars showing from a previously built house implying the possibility of a new extension when needed or when the owner's economic situation allows them to.…
Aya Tahhan – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Artemesia is a wild aromatic plant that grows on the sides of the streets wherever there is rubble and earth and in any unplanted or neglected land. It is nature's…
Renad Shqeirat – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

This photo manifests the difference in approach and aspirations between past and present. The old entrance to a house marked with a simple pergola covered by a climbing grape vine…
Renad Shqeirat – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

It is not only oil, it is life, hope, and love pressed gently. Its aromatic scent and its burning taste are like memories, its color clear like the truth. A…
Wael Salem Sawalha – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Nothing is impossible. In the positive way. Go for it. Search for the highest feasible. Education is regarded as very important. Even if you have 6 or 8 children, take…
Lino Hellings – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

In the old village there are quite some empty houses. People migrate abroad or move to the city. The houses may lack modern comfort. If the house is not occupied…
Lino Hellings – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

This is what is left of the olives after the process of pressing, but in Palestine there are so many ideas as to best how utilize the resources and bi-products…
Nasr Samer Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Life is much more beautiful outside the camera lenses, our eyes translate the colors the way they should be. When man was unable to be free in the nature, he…
Ahmad Kamel Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

His name is Ehab and there is no man more beautiful and gentler then him. And the best man in my life. He is my friend and the reason for…
Rana Bassam Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

It looks like a mouse has eaten its way through the wall. But it is in fact an elderly gentleman who made the tunnels with the jack hammer machine down…
Lino Hellings – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

Ornaments were used on the entrances of historic buildings, some of it are of passages from the Quran to express the owners’ gratitude for God’s blessings like in this picture…
Rita Ziad Yaseen – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya

“Ra’fat“ & “Aya“ these are two names written in two different construction sites that we saw in ’Asira Ashamaliyyah during the photowalk. Apperantly most of the…
Aya Tahhan – 50 villages Asira ash Shamaliya