University architecture professors, students join international effort to redesign Corinth Canal

Sara Khasib and Mohammed Abualrob, two instructors in the Department of Architectural Engineering at Birzeit University, presented a lecture on urban planning as a tool to resist the Israeli Occupation in the 2019 International Festival of Architecture Schools (IFAS), held between February 16 and 24, 2019, in Corinth, Greece. 

The 2019 edition of IFAS, an annual international event that brings together architecture students, professors, and experts from various countries and universities, hosted students and staff from ten Arab and European universities such as D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Pescara, Italy − the organizer of the event − the University of Jordan, Al al-Bayt University, Al-Balqa` Applied University, and Birzeit University. 

In addition to meetings, conferences, lectures by international guests, and cross-cultural exchanges and collaborations, the festival included a workshop that focused on urban processes involving Corinth, Loutraki, and the Isthmus of Corinth. 

In the workshop, four Birzeit University architecture majors joined their professors and 70 others in presenting infrastructure designs that would better connect cities across Corinth’s famous canal  while protecting and promoting the heritage of the area.