Riwaq--Centre for Architectural Conservation

Riwaq (Arabic: رواق) or Centre for Architectural Conservation is a center for the preservation of architectural heritage of rural Palestine. The organization is based in Ramallah and owes its name mainly to a riwaq, which is an arcade in Islamic architecture. Riwaq was founded by Suad Amiry in 1991 amongst a group of architects, archeologists, and planners with the aim to preserve cultural heritage. Researchers of the center have compiled a detailed register of historic buildings in Palestine. The buildings that they document are frequently threatened by military occupation and counter actions of inhabitants. In the course of twenty years since its foundation, Riwaq had completed more than one hundred restoration projects, including major monuments in the Old City of Jerusalem and the renovation of historic streets in the historical part of Bethlehem. Riwaq's anti-monumentalist approach to preservation is meant to emphasize the presence of indigenous cultures with vernacular architecture and the shaping of the Palestinian landscape by the hands of average inhabitants. The organization uses a combination of research and documentation, traditional knowledge preservation, restoration, an outreach through cultural programing.