Anonymous

As far as city planning is concerned, Ein Hud was designed as a defense village. Being a Palestinian oasis in a Jewish sea, it had many reasons to be concerned with security. In redesigning the village, other important aspects of planning were looked at: commerce, residence, civil areas, and green space. The village was looked at not as a war zone, but as an area that could be developed and interact with its neighbor. A hierarchal system was developed in a looping pattern. The main road of Ein Hud was used as an axis off of which the loops would generate. The point of intersection between the axis and the first loop would be where the municipal and commercial organizations would be located, such as government buildings, hospitals, community centers, offices, etc. These are the areas that would be accessible most easily to the residents of Ein Hud, and possibly the most important buildings for the establishment and recognization of the city. By placing them on the main road Ein Hud is risking the easy access for the Jewish community also. It is also risking interaction in a positive sense with the Jewish community.

The second level of looping is designed for the placement of smaller civil organizations such as schools and religious buildings. They would be located in the areas of intersection between the first and second levels of looping. This creates smaller, more intimate community areas off the main axis, but still easily accessible. Surrounding these areas, on the outer parts of the loops would be most residential areas. This affords a community setting and privacy to the residents of Ein Hud. It also takes advantage of the mountainside views on both sides of the village. This system was developed with the idea of expansion in mind. This system can continue to develop linearly while at the same time still being a part of the larger community of Ein Hud.

The presence of Ein Hod so close to Ein Hud was a very important aspect of this project. Ein Hod is well known as an artist community in Israel and attracts tourists from different areas of the country. The proximity of Ein Hud to this could allow for many different people from all over to see this Palestinian town developing and interacting with its Jewish neighbor. If Ein Hud continued that artist attraction or really just sponsored a number of museums or other commercial enterprises that would draw the visitors of Ein Hod, people from all over could witness the meshing of Palestinian and Jewish groups. After time this would become a more commonplace occurrence, and eventually the gap between the two cultures, at least in the part of Israel, may not seem so huge.

The acceptance of these two groups of people by one another is slow in coming, and the idea that architecture alone can make such a huge difference is perhaps farfetched, but little by little, by allowing the people to realize they are not so different, by allowing them to see each other as human beings and not things, they will see each other as countrymen and not as enemies.