1A BLOG

Destruction of GAZA

The Environmental impact of the war in Palestine.

 

Anadolu, G. (2023)

“All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal”

– John Steinbeck Margita,D  (2023)

 

 

Throughout history, wars are known for destruction and loss. The limelight falls on financial, political and human loss, a few ever consider the damage done to the factors that cannot be compensated or repaired, our climate, and environment. Destruction of ecosystems, pollution, displacement of species and land degradation, these are only a few of the devastating effects of wars. It is now more evident to witness these criminal acts due to the persistent recordings of such matters with statistical data in comparison with previous wars that were not accurately recorded.  A preliminary assessment of environmental impact was conducted by the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) states that 2,692 buildings and an estimated 600,000 tons of debris resulting from bombings damaged the infrastructure of water and sanitation which causes a disaster to the public health. Due to the bombings, the soil is no longer arable which is a crucial cultural aspect of Palestinian people with their deep routed connection with agriculture.  The report is 50 pages long with several factors which goes into extensive depth of environmental destruction that can only bring oneself to reflect on the damages committed and endured not only in the present time, but future generations as well. As the world now witnesses these catastrophise daily, the decline of empathy is noticeable and desensitisation of images that are far away of destruction are no longer sufficient. A Kuwaiti graphic designer, Mohammed Sharaf, titles his campaign “ Awareless Campaign” that labels horrific images with environmental issues associated with the war in Gaza. The images are labelled “Plastic bags” due to the use of plastic bags to carry human remains, and “Ozone” as a mushroom cloud emerges from the destruction of buildings.

IMAGES FROM DESIGNER INSTAGRAM @Mohammadsharaf

published in 2024

 

During the lecture, the mention of war and its affects hit close to home as a Kuwaiti who learnt about the destruction that occurred during 1990 Gulf war where Kuwait’s 700+ oilfields were set on fire releasing enormous amounts of carbon that evidently eliminated agriculture, animal habitats, and public health disasters.

 Now witnessing these wars and destruction occurring on a daily basis, it is nothing but a disappointment and sadness that devours me and it is important to raise the questions on who is going to be responsible after the war is ended about all the loss of environment.

https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/45739/environmental_impact_conflict_Gaza.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=yre

reference list 

Anadolu, G. (2023) Widespread destruction in Gaza puts concept of ‘domicide’ in focus, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/07/widespread-destruction-in-gaza-puts-concept-of-domicide-in-focus (Accessed: 11 November 2024).

Margita, D (2023) Steinbeck on war: Allriot blog, ALLRIOT. Available at: https://allriot.com/blog/steinbeck-on-war?srsltid=AfmBOoqwDTaSMliE0HAPt9_OmpaqS-fAkVigjxaBaPvz7VS9QIpxUvbB (Accessed: 11 November 2024).

https://www.instagram.com/mohammadrsharaf/?hl=en

 

 



INTRO

hello.

This is Hajer, a postgrad at ECA. I’m a Graphic Designer and an Artist dabbling in Mixed Media art forms. My favourite median being charcoal.

I’m interested in social change and activism. I have won two global awards in the categories of social justice and human rights for my anti book banning campaign “MISSING INK” and “TRANSCARE” about transgender healthcare. I decided to join ECA because I wanted to challenge myself and further push the boundaries of what I can achieve and change in the world as a designer. I’m extremely interested in music, books, film, and photography. I’m eager to learn about environmental design due to the high level of environmental damage I’ve witnessed in my country, Kuwait.

 

 

I also have written my thesis for my undergraduate degree about greenwashing, which introduced me to the world of environmental design. The thesis was labelled “The influence of unethical design on human behaviour and consumption”, I’ve explored many jarring examples of unethical design and the effects of greenwashing on the environment which led me to rethink the ethics behind my practice as a graphic designer. I wanted to be able to exercise a profession I love without inflicting damage to our environment, and  that has expanded my interest into the topic alongside participating in a manifesto zine design” INK AND IMPACT” as part of responsible design week in 2024 and participating with “DESIGN DECLARES”  in design council design for planet in 2022 while advocating for environmental change. My interest in design activism expanded and I found myself drawn and fascinated by the environmental impact of design, witnessing the irreversible damage done to the environment has lit up my desire to install change. I want to obtain the critical skills that allows a designer to implement change both In theory and in practice,  and hopefully contribute to a more conscious society.

 

The piece of environmental design that has peaked my interest is related to a massive environmental issue in my country Kuwait, climate change has raised the temperature to an alarming extent, with the hot  summers reaching up to 60 degrees celsius. Wind catchers were found in Kuwait in ruins of ancient air conditioning. There has always been a theme for indigenous architecture in Kuwait, and for the longest time, I believed it was a decorative architectural design, but this article proves that in ancient times, these decorative vents worked as a natural cooling system, utilising the material the houses were built from. “it is an ingenious interior cooling system based on the flow of air, caught by openings in the tower superstructure,” Windcatchers work by evaporative cooling. Heat converts water to vapour which takes heat with it as it evaporates, just like sweat does for the body.” The History Blog (2016)

(Altuntaş, 2021)

(Altuntaş, 2021)

The History Blog, (2016)

This is an interesting discovery of how humans used to operate before the discovery of electricity, which led me to the thought that if this method is reintroduced to modern architecture, part of the finite energy consumption issue can be resolved and would serve as a natural solution to the raising temperatures, in a very circular and self sustained system.

 

 

REFERENCE LIST

Altuntaş, L. (2021) World’s First Air Conditioners ‘Windcatchers’, Arkeonews. Available at: https://arkeonews.net/worlds-first-air-conditioners-windcatchers/.

Ruins of ancient air conditioning found in Kuwait – The History Blog (2016) Thehistoryblog.com. Available at: https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/41955 (Accessed: 24 November 2024).

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