Marwa Al-Sabouni: How Syria's architecture laid the foundation for brutal war
Marwa Al-Sabouni: L'architecture en Syrie a posé les fondations d'une guerre brutale
Marwa Al-Sabouni suggests that architecture played a crucial role in the slow unraveling of Syrian cities' social fabric, preparing the way for once-friendly groups to become enemies instead of neighbors. Full bio
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en mai 2016 via Internet depuis Homs,]
par 6 ans de guerre en Syrie.]
et je suis architecte.
and I'm an architect.
western part of Syria,
our place is still standing.
notre maison est encore debout.
we were like prisoners at home.
nous sommes comme assignés à résidence.
and battles and bombings and snipers.
affrontements, bombardements et snipers.
an architecture studio
une agence d'architecture
de la vieille ville.
of the old town itself.
toute la vieille ville.
have been more or less quiet.
and people are still fighting.
les gens se battent toujours.
in the old city market
de l'ancien marché
il y a un charpentier,
workshops, among many more.
des ateliers, etc.
who juggles several jobs,
qui a plusieurs petits boulots,
of jobs to get by.
pour s'en sortir.
of course, I ask myself:
bien sûr, je me demande
à cette guerre inhumaine.
of beliefs, origins, customs,
des origines, des coutumes,
living harmoniously together
vivaient harmonieusement
their differences --
de leurs différences --
violence, displacement
violence, les déplacements de population,
that had led to the war --
expliquent cette guerre --
that has been overlooked
principale a été négligée.
that this doesn't happen again.
de ne pas y retomber.
has played an important role
un rôle important
conflict between warring factions,
le conflit entre les factions,
for other countries as well.
aussi dans d'autres pays.
between the architecture of a place
entre l'architecture d'un lieu
that has settled there.
qui s'y sont établies.
in whether a community crumbles
dans l'effondrement
the coexistence
traditions et origines.
the prosperity of open trade
la prospérité du libre échange
of belonging to a place,
de leur appartenance à un lieu,
in their built environment,
dans leurs constructions,
built back-to-back,
bâties côte à côte,
de souks et de lieux publics.
on principles of humanity and harmony.
principes d'humanité et d'harmonie.
can still be read in the remains.
architecture de mixité dans les décombres.
was built over a multilayered past,
construite sur les couches du passé,
and embracing its spirit.
embrassant leur esprit.
a sense of belonging
unified existence.
remarquablement unifiée.
of these places has been interfered with;
a été bouleversé,
of the colonial period,
de la période coloniale,
enthusiastically about,
as the un-modern Syrian cities.
comme des cités archaïques.
and relocated monuments.
et déplacé des monuments.
of a long, slow unraveling.
et lente déliquescence.
and architecture of our cities
traditionnels de nos villes
not by separation,
pas en séparant,
worthless, and the new, coveted.
valeur, et la nouveauté a été convoitée.
and social environment
et la société
by elements of modernity --
communities by class, creed or affluence.
réparties par classe, origine et aisance.
to the community.
environment changed,
of belonging of the communities
of togetherness, of belonging,
d'appartenance,
a way of differentiation,
un moyen de différencier
commencé à s'éloigner,
that used to unite them,
to represent their common existence.
alors leur existence commune.
to the Syrian war,
à cette guerre civile,
the way in which,
of identity and self-respect,
et le respect de soi,
inhumane architecture
dévoyée et inhumaine,
divisions and hatred.
has morphed into a city center
s'est transformée en centre-ville
became distinct social groups,
devenues des groupes distincts,
and alienated from the place.
et étrangers au lieu.
with someone else
in the informal housing system,
le système informel d'habitat,
over 40 percent of the population.
plus de 40% de la population.
almost half of the Syrian population
la moitié de la population syrienne
without proper infrastructure,
to the same group,
au même groupe,
class, origin or all of the above.
ou l'origine, ou les trois réunies.
proved to be a tangible precursor of war.
un signe précurseur de la guerre.
between pre-categorized areas --
entre des zones pré-catégorisées,
to bind the city together --
through coherent building,
the coexistent presence --
and visionless modernization
dévoyée et aveugle
in other parts of the world,
hétérogène ailleurs dans le monde,
in British cities
of the kind of instability
so disastrously here in Syria.
tristement témoins en Syrie.
Daraa and many others,
of the country is now displaced.
du pays a été déplacée.
as an architect, I have to ask, is:
qu'architecte, est la suivante :
that we should adopt
the same mistakes?
should be on creating places
de créer des lieux
un sentiment d'appartenance.
need to recapture
doivent réutiliser
that did just that,
qui avaient créé cela,
for coexistence and peace,
de la coexistence et de la paix,
that don't exhibit ostentation,
generosity and acceptance,
la générosité et l'inclusion,
to enjoy, not just for the elite,
pas seulement les élites,
of the old Islamic city,
ombragées de la vieille ville islamique,
a sense of community.
le sens de la communauté.
that's called Baba Amr
I introduced this design
for rebuilding it.
pour le reconstruire.
inspired by a tree,
urbain inspiré d'un arbre,
and spreading organically,
et de s'étendre naturellement,
hanging over the old alleys,
qui était au-dessus des ruelles,
private courtyards, shops,
de cours privées, de magasins,
and playing and leisure,
d'aires de loisirs et de jeux,
of electricity we get.
les rares heures d'électricité.
to express belonging and community
l'appartenance et la communauté
disconnected blocks
isolés, déconnectés,
for rebuilding Baba Amr.
reconstruction de Baba Amr.
around which all human life rotates,
autour duquel toute la vie tourne,
and even direct human activity.
voire de diriger, l'activité humaine.
identity and social integration
et l'intégration sociale
of effective urbanism.
d'un urbanisme efficace.
of the old Islamic city
de la vieille ville islamique
towns, for instance,
européennes, par exemple,
or tower blocks,
or drinking water inside the city
ou de l'eau potable dans la ville
in how people feel towards the place,
perception du lieu par ses habitants.
a generous place that gives,
contributing to,
la peine d'être entretenu,
as an alienating place,
its architecture should be giving, too.
l'architecture doit l'être aussi.
in the fabric of our souls.
dans notre tissu spirituel.
of informal concrete slums
de bidonvilles en béton,
all across the Middle East
and fragmentation of our communities.
de nos communautés.
in another way,
à reconstruire différemment,
that doesn't contribute only
qui ne contribue pas seulement
aspects of people's lives,
and psychological needs.
spirituels et psychologiques.
in the Syrian cities before the war.
dans les villes syriennes avant la guerre.
cities that are shared
les gens ne ressentiront plus
to the other identities all around,
opposées à celles qui les entourent,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Marwa Al-Sabouni - ArchitectMarwa Al-Sabouni suggests that architecture played a crucial role in the slow unraveling of Syrian cities' social fabric, preparing the way for once-friendly groups to become enemies instead of neighbors.
Why you should listen
Marwa Al-Sabouni was born in Homs, a city in the central-western part of the country, and has a PhD in Islamic Architecture. Despite the destruction of large parts of the city, she has remained in Homs with her husband and two children throughout the war. In her just-released book The Battle for Home (Thames & Hudson, 2016), she explores the role architecture and the built environment play in whether a community crumbles or comes together, and she offers insights on how her country (and a much-needed sense of identity) should be rebuilt so that it will not happen again.
Marwa Al-Sabouni | Speaker | TED.com