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The story of a traditional Aleppian house

by Dr. Ahmad Adib Shaar on October 16, 2015

When I bought and renovated a house in the Old City of Aleppo, I was asked by the Syrian Engineers Syndicate to assess the experience. I told the cultural committee represented by Mr. Khaldoun Fansa that I would follow an Arab expression that you don’t make a judgment on something for a year and seven months. After that time I gave this lecture to the Syndicate. It has been translated, edited and updated and now also includes the view of two of my children.

I was born in 1950 in what we call an “Arabic house,” a stone building built around a courtyard, sheltered from its neighbors and housing just one family. It was in the Al Bustan area of Aleppo, by the southern gate of the Saray palace and just inside the eastern wall of the old city. We left in 1954 to live in al-Ansari in a house that was similar to an Arabic house in that we lived there alone without neighbors above or below us.

How Did Germany Rebuild After World War II?

by The Aleppo Project on October 15, 2015

Interview with Professor Jeffrey Diefendorf

Jeffrey Diefendorf has written several books about the reconstruction of both Germany and Japan after World War II. The Pamela Shulman Professor in European and Holocaust Studies at the University of New Hampshire, he has looked at the way planning shaped the rebuilding of post-conflict societies. He is the author or editor of eight books, including In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities after World War II, The Rebuilding of Europe’s Bombed Cities, Rebuilding Urban Japan after 1945, and Transnationalism and the German City.

His work on Germany examines how the country managed an extremely rapid urban regeneration in a decentralised manner. Different cities approached the problems in various ways, often depending on how their planning departments functioned before the war. In the longer-term, one issue has become clear. Those cities that used the historic street plans and maintained traditional urban density have become more attractive places that those that opened up urban space in a modernist way.

Professor Diefendorf is currently looking at whether cities that are destroyed in civil wars recover in different ways to those damaged by inter-state conflict.

“This is how we are going to build Syria”

by Channel 4 on October 13, 2015

Mohamed Qutaish, a 13-year-old from Aleppo exhibits the model of the city he constructed. “This is how we are going to build Syria.” We love Mohamed’s vision for the city, particularly his focus on trees, lakes and public transport.

Source: Channel 4 News, United Kingdom.

After the veil prevailed

by Angélique Sanossian on October 13, 2015

The interpretation of veils in my photography cannot be explained without referring to the city I grew up in; Aleppo.

Aleppo is characterized with its multi existing religions, such as Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism…etc. In addition to those religions, it has also different political views (which mostly remain unexpressed), cultures, and opposing ideas and perspectives. Being a photographer, I see that Aleppo is rich and colorful… But haven’t noticed that, until I took a set of photos and classified them under the title: “After the Veil Prevailed”

Drought in Syria

by The Aleppo Project on October 10, 2015

When the drought in Syria started in 2008, the United Nations issued an appeal for funding for food aid for the many farmers whose crops had failed and animals had either been sold or died. In August the next year, with the drought getting worse and lasting longer than any other on record, another international appeal for help was announced. By the end of 2009, it had raised just 14 percent of what was needed.

Rebuilding Sarajevo

by The Aleppo Project on September 30, 2015

When Sarajevo emerged from four years of siege and shelling, the city was almost derelict. Much of its housing had been destroyed and its historic buildings damaged. Only about a fifth of its water system and power supply still worked. Tens of thousands of people had fled and its centuries old history as a cosmopolitan multi-ethnic, multi-faith city was over.

Aleppo: Rural-Urban Grievance

by The Aleppo Project on September 27, 2015

“We liberated the rural parts of Aleppo province. We waited and waited for Aleppo City to rise, and it didn’t. We couldn’t rely on them to do it for themselves so we had to bring the revolution to them.” Those were the words in July 2012 of Abu Hashish, a commander from a village in the country near Aleppo. The conflict had indeed spread from the Idleb countryside to northern Aleppo in the early part of the year but only reached the city in July.

Clearing Rubble

by The Aleppo Project on September 22, 2015

The Aleppo Project is developing a plan of action for rubble clearance for when peace returns to the city and reconstruction can begin. Part of this is the development of a system to map destruction and assess the volume of material that will likely have to be removed.

We need your help:

What has been used to make apartment buildings in Aleppo in the past 50 years? To what extent has asbestos or any other mineral fibre been used in construction? What hazards might exist in the rubble?
How much rubble is there in Aleppo? What sort of volumes of building materials were used in the construction of new buildings? How much concrete was used in informal settlement construction?
How effective was the city government and the sanitation department in removing garbage and construction waste before the war?
Where was garbage dumped and what sort of life-span did landfills used by the city have?
Under current Syrian law, who is responsible for rubble clearance from privately owned property?
Where do you think rubble should be taken? What would be the most suitable locations for sorting and recycling? What would be the best locations for landfill?
Where did Aleppo get building materials such as sand and rubble from before the conflict? How expensive were these materials? Will it be more economical to recycle concrete rubble rather than using newly mined building materials?

Birthday Dinner in Aleppo

by Adawia Shaar on September 20, 2015

Adawia Shaar, who lives in Aleppo, shares on her Facebook page a picture from the birthday dinner of her friend, whose brothers were only able to join her through Skype. “She does not know when she will see them again, so she created this scene to live the dream that they are still by her side”

This is the new Aleppo family, with members scattered all around the world.

Do Syrians Support Negotiations?

by The Aleppo Project on September 10, 2015

It has become a truism of conflict resolution to say that peace cannot be forced on a country and negotiations only work when the time is ripe. Is that moment approaching in Syria? A poll of Syrians by The Day After, an Istanbul-based research organisation, shows that a small majority now favour a negotiated settlement with the government. Of the 2,600 people polled inside and outside Syria, 54.7 per cent want to see talks that lead to a settlement. That is still low compared with some countries in conflict. A recent poll in Afghanistan showed that 71 per cent of respondents want a negotiated settlement with the Taliban even though only 4 per cent said they would prefer the return of the Taliban to power rather than the current government.

The story of a traditional Aleppian house

How Did Germany Rebuild After World War II?

“This is how we are going to build Syria”

After the veil prevailed

Drought in Syria

Rebuilding Sarajevo

Aleppo: Rural-Urban Grievance

Clearing Rubble

Birthday Dinner in Aleppo

Do Syrians Support Negotiations?

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