Urban identity is an accumulation – layer on layer of collective memories. Memories of the past leave only images -  selected images - traces that we as a society decide to either erase or engrave in our memories.

The city of Lod today is a rich composition of historical layers and cultural strata. Like a palimpsest – an ancient document on which the original writing has been erased and replaced with new writing, today we see only some parts of Lod, other parts have disappeared. However, the layers that now make up Lod remain disparate – they do not form a whole. This is why I chose the concept of a palimpsest, which symbolizes a multi-layered reality in which even though the new has almost erased what existed before, some traces can still be seen. 

By bringing together images, layer on layer, I will try to create an organic merge by both erasing and restoring in the fields of both architecture and consciousness. I will try to join Lod to her past, via collective memories and forgotten images of the city, in order to change the way Lod currently perceives her own meaning and significance.                                         

The central perspective I will try to convey is that in a city like Lod, time does not simply pass: instead, it accumulates, layer on layer.

Of all Lod’s different layers, I chose to use the commercial axis that consists of a chain of buildings made of abandoned anchor stones from the Mameluke era. Additional layers include the urban textures of the Ottoman period as well as today’s municipal grid. I will try to combine these very different elements by portraying unique architectural characteristics from each period, in order to create my own new interpretation of Lod’s collective memories.

The structure I have chosen to develop is the Khan el Khilo, from the Mameluke period, and I will re-use as in ancient times, as a vibrant meeting place for different cultures to come together for leisure and enjoyment. I will do this by carefully examining how the different textures and previous layers of Lod’s memories can combine to fill the new needs of the many communities that live in this city today.