The downed Gaza wall
January 26th, 2008
On the 23rd of Jenuary tens of thousands of people flooded into Egypt through a downed section of the wall built to enclose the Gaza stripe. Although this event is a consequence (and an evidence) of the dramatic and un-human conditions in which the palestinians are forced to live, it is possible to find a sort of relief watching some of the images of the wrecked steel wall that have been published everywhere on the internet. As an architect I have been completely intrigued when I saw how part of the horryfing infrastructure had been turned into a beautiful ‘vertiginous’ staircase colonized by palestinian kids. Somehow I couldn’t help looking at that ‘spontaneous landmark’ as a very powerful image of freedom…
