21 x 31 cm

ISBN 978-3-03860-087-9

In cooperation with Laboratory Basel (laba), EPFL

This book, based on recent research at EPFL’s Laboratory Basel (laba), offers a critical look at the area that today forms the state of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and the lasting historical role of agriculture, which sprang from the Neolithic revolution in the Middle East, had for a wide range of aspects of human social and ecological development. Topics considered include agriculture’s role in territorial appropriation and domestication, in structuring the development of urbanization, in creating a national homeland narrative for the Jewish state, and in changing the climate. Israel Lessons explores in particular the three major types of Israeli agricultural development: vernacular Palestinian/Bedouin, socialist utopian Kibbutz/Moshav, and contemporary high-tech desert farming.

Presenting findings through text matched to striking images, graphics, and maps, and featuring proposals for architectural intervetions, Israel Lessons demonstrates how facts and narratives related to agriculture and the climate crisis are intertwined with geopolitics and sectarian ideals of an earthly paradise.

 

Other volumes in the Teaching and Research in Architecture series:

Barents Lessons (out of print)

Swiss Lessons (out of print)

Icelandic Lessons (out of print)

Venice Lessons

Portugal Lessons

Fez Lessons

Manor Lessons