Architecture of Commonality. Grounds for Hope is an edited collection of essays that expands on
the role of museums and cultural institutions in Palestine and the Arab world. The book is
guided by reflections on the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit Palestine which won the 2019 Aga
Khan Award for Architecture. The long history of the genesis of the Museum as an institution is
the framing device for a multiplicity of voices to reflect on the role architecture plays in
the orchestration of memorialization on the significance of curatorial strategies that respond
to situations of conflict and a discussion of the blurred boundaries between architecture
landscape and land art. As a way to reflect on the deep ties the Museum and the gardens hold
with the ground and the landscape the collection of essays by scholars across cultures and
interviews with designers is structured around four main themes Stones Seeds Voices and
Walks. The intention is to expand beyond the confines of the singular project in order to
invite reflections on the positive role cultural institutions play in planting hope for the
future and locating the conversations within the political and historical framework of the
region.
