The National Conservatory - Bethlehem
Elias Anastas - Youssef Anastas
Biography
Thinking of a project as a process is the only common thread running through our work. Beginning the thinking of a project at the opposite end of the planning spectrum, from the bottom up, helps us merge into the deep understanding of local know-hows, and capacities of widening or subverting the initial end result to new uses. We consider the process as a means of minimizing energy consumption between design and realization. Working directly with factories and artisans enables to optimize the energy consumption in function of the resources available and the ambitions. We believe that sustainability is no excuse for sacrifices. Instead, research is synonym of ambition for a more sustainable, more comfortable, and more interactive design.
Elias Anastas graduated from l’Ecole d’architecture de Paris Val de Seine in 2007. Following graduation, he worked for Yves Lion’s office, in Paris. He was involved as project architect at Yves Lion’s practice in a number of projects including The Jabal Omar Development project in Mecca. In 2007, Elias received first prize in the national competition for The Edward Said National Conservatory of music branch in Bethlehem, Palestine. Elias is currently projects director at AAU ANASTAS, leading with Yousef the design of The Hebron Courthouse project, the restoration of a building from the 11th century in the old city of Bethlehem, the Museum of the Palestinian depopulated villages and several international and local competitions. In 2010, Elias founded Local Industries. As an architect he was looking for a way to insert local craft techniques to his work.
Youssef Anastas started his studies at l’Ecole d’Architecture de Paris Val de Seine, and pursued at l’Ecole d’Architecture de Marne la vallée, where he got his M.Arch. Yousef is completing a Civil Engineering Masters at l’Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, in Paris. He is currently working, as part of a research study, at the Princeton University’s Form Finding Lab, led by Professor Sigrid Adriaenssens. During his studies, he grabbed the opportunities to enrich his experiences, by working at the practices of Kengo Kuma and Associates in Paris, and at the Paris office of RFR. He is currently responsible of AAU ANASTAS office in Paris, while continuously emphasizing the link between Architecture and Engineering. He is as well heading a new department of AAU ANASTAS dedicated to research. The first research edition will kick off in November 2014, and will tackle contemporary stone construction techniques.
The National Conservatory: Civic Architecture
Officially inaugurated on September 14th 2012, The National Conservatory Bethlehem branch creates an opened new cultural exchange platform for young Palestinian musicians.
An urban concept
The national conservatory is inspired by the local architectural cultures and the typologies of the traditional Palestinian houses.
The aim of the project was to question the disappearing traditional typologies, by extracting their characteristics and placing them in the heart of a project with a specific function. The concept had to provide an appropriate functional architecture, taking into consideration contemporary Palestinian lifestyle while revisiting historic filiations.
The “Hosh” heart of the project
The central patio is a key element of the project, acting as an urban piazza opened towards the city and as a space regulating the climate. The spatial relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces that is inherent to Palestinian Hoshs offers a rich living space with a multitude of ways of occupying it. At the image of the Hoshs, the patio of the conservatory keeps opened one of its sides to the city and to the Bethlehemites thus enhancing citizens to get absorbed by this space.
The massing of the building, based on a strong clear stone volume has been developed to maximise the effectiveness of natural ventilation and daylight through the spaces, and to orient the visitors to the main urban porosity of the project : the cultural hosh. This urban space serves as a link to the different functions, and invites the students and vistors to linger and relax. It can absorb different sorts of cultural manifestations.
Materials
The facade stones have been machine cut to form a monolithic wall with joints that are hardly visible, emphasizing the different tints and textures of the stones.The white local Sour Ma’in stone used on the facades, floors, walls in outdoor and indoor spaces, gave us the opportunity to explore textures, finishes, and construction details adapting to the different uses.
At the image of the traditional “mousharabiyehs” found in the vocabulary of the traditional architecture of the old Palestinian cities, the envelope provides a strong identity to the building, gives a kinetic aspect to the facades, and interacts with sun radiations according to orientations and seasons of the year. The envelope is composed of different shades of blue, which vibrates according to the light of the day.
The furniture of the whole building was developed in the same spirit of collaborative experiments with the local artisans. The conception stems from the means of production, and in return the means of production adapt accordingly.
Urban continuity
The main project components of the conservatory such as materials and their applications or the island of freshness, had to be extended on the scale of a fragment of the city. The stone treatment became a tool of urban continuity; the hosh developed into an urban pedestrian alley. Inspired by the traditional oriental markets “souks”, the prolonged patio of the conservatory generates a public pedestrian street, bordered by shops and a public square. This space connects the conservatory to the city, while introducing an urban pedestrian scale to the area.
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