Reconstruction of Aleppo

This study examines the role of Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) in preserving the architectural heritage of the Old City of Aleppo, focusing on a case study of the Al-Matbakh al-Ajami building. The study aims to provide an integrated framework for using HBIM for documenting and managing historical buildings. This is done through multiple stages and working according to the levels of detail by developing the 3D model from LOD200 to LOD500, which contributes to improving restoration and maintenance processes.

Over the last month, local Syrian NGOs and initiatives did an outstanding job in negotiating with local governance structures, resisting aid interference and delivering aid at a faster pace with better cost-effectiveness. Moreover, local organisations have shown a high capacity to implement those activities that are most needed following the earthquake, such as cash and in-kind assistance, debris removal, rehabilitation of water infrastructure and psychosocial support.

The Syrian military salary scale underwent significant changes in 2018 especially in contrast with civilian public servants’ salary scale. In 2018, the first legislative decree regarding salary scales was issued with a large increase in the salaries of exclusively army soldiers compared to other public servants. This change, combined with the deteriorating cost of living, contributed to a declining purchasing power at a faster rate. This also significantly increased indicators of the society's engagement with "military institution and its branches" and incentivized the transformation of young Syrians to become mercenaries inside and outside the borders. Additionally, it made the option of migration even more appealing for young people.

The study highlights primarily exterior facades with a particular focus on doors and windows from the Seljuk period to modern times. The elements are chosen from 60 historical buildings including religious, commercial and residential buildings. The focus is on the presentation of a general chronological sequence. All pictures are selected from the collections of the Syrian Heritage Archive Project (SHAP).
Many of these monuments were affected, damaged or destroyed, by the conflict in Syria, the clashes of which lasted in Aleppo from 2012 to 2016. The restoration work is currently underway.
Thus, it seems particularly important to recall and document the diversity and richness of detail in the city’s built heritage, which give testimony to the traditional skills and competence of the builders, architects and craftsmen and which contribute to Aleppo's local identity and its position as a distinguished and beautiful city.

The study was conducted through the Syrian Heritage Archive Project (SHAP) – Aleppo Built Heritage Documentation at the Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin and founded by Gerda Henkel foundation, Germany.

Published by arthistoricum, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg:
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/1008

Citation:
Alafandi, Rami: Timeline of Selected Historical Building Facades in Aleppo: Syrian Heritage Archive Project (SHAP) – Aleppo Built Heritage Documentation, herausgegeben von Eva Al-Habib Nmeir, Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1008

According to our in-country team’s field observations and the preliminary results of the interviews we have conducted with several medical actors across the country, the country is currently facing a dangerous rapid spread of the virus with a surge in mortality rate. Despite the difficulty in obtaining official and verified information, our observations indicate a severe outbreak in Damascus and its countryside, such as Eastern Ghouta and Western Qalamoun areas.

According to our in-country team’s field observations and the preliminary results of the interviews we have conducted with several medical actors across the country, the country is currently facing a dangerous rapid spread of the virus with a surge in mortality rate. Despite the difficulty in obtaining official and verified information, our observations indicate a severe outbreak in Damascus and its countryside, such as Eastern Ghouta and Western Qalamoun areas.

The structure of the laws pertaining to economic policies adopted gradually by the Syrian regime in the decades preceding the conflict that erupted in 2011 affected its approach in dealing with developments in the country in the years that followed the conflict. A detailed study of this structure reveals three main characteristics of its associated policies. First: The politicization of laws, which have been designed to favor the regime’s patronage networks, composed of a coalition of businessmen, senior bureaucrats, military figures as well as warlords who have been gradually added over the years of the conflict. Second: The selective application of policies to serve the interests of certain groups or geographic areas at the expense of other groups or areas, either as deliberate punishment strategy by the regime or because of a lack of financial resources required for enforcement. Third: A growing push towards centralization which has manifested politically as support for the regime’s institutions, and economically as support for loyalist economic networks in a manner that both ensures the regime’s survival and reinforces loyalty of those networks.

The regime’s practices and policies for managing the early recovery phase so far in areas it controls—which are likely to grow to cover most of the Syrian regions in the next few years—reveal that there have been few changes in how the regime approaches these efforts. Notably, the regime has heavily focused its early recovery and infrastructure rehabilitation efforts on areas that were always under its control. By concentrating its investments in these less damaged areas and in more profitable sectors, the regime hopes to secure the cash it requires to gradually move on to work in the areas of greater damage.

The regime pursued a policy of isolating the areas that it brought back under military control, first from one another and then from their regional surroundings. The regime tightened its security grip on these areas by utilizing security clearances and arbitrary detentions, as well as intensifying compulsory conscriptions. In general, recaptured areas experienced insecurity and saw sharp declines in their economic conditions and in local service provision after they came under regime control. One of the main reasons for this was the control imposed by pro-regime militias and armed groups over these areas and their economy, which led to a collective reluctance to return to the areas among internally displaced persons and refugees, consequently undermining the chance of recovery.

The Syrian regime’s policies are not likely to lead to early recovery throughout the country in the long run for several reasons, the most important of which is the nature of the investments focused in the real estate and financial services industries. A large portion of the revenue generated by these industries is controlled by the private sector and the economic networks allied with the bureaucratic elite. Additionally, Iran and Russia have gradually taken control of the Syrian economy which will impact the policies related to the allocation of investment, and the support to the governorates according to the interests of these countries and their local economic networks. Furthermore, the regime’s policy of attracting capital and investments without seeking to restore the depleted labor force, and even targeting the remaining labor force through compulsory conscription, will undermine the recovery capabilities of economic sectors that depend largely on a strong labor force such as industry, agriculture, and infrastructure. It will also ensure that large swathes of the country, namely the formerly opposition-held areas remain marginalized and poor in terms of their human and financial capital.

Peer Reviewer comment: "This is a solid piece of scholarship. It is well-researched and shows an indepth knowledge of the subject. It has a detailed and extensive list of reference, which will be of interest to international researchers."     
The reconstruction of central Beirut after the Lebanese civil war by Solidere is not generally considered a success. It has resulted in a soulless, expensive and exclusive area aimed at tourists and wealthy overseas business people who have generally failed to materialise;
local people tend to go elsewhere, except when protesting (Ilyés 2015). Despite the fact that Beirut was known to be an ancient city with occupation stretching back to prehistoric times, the initial post-war plans were for a modern city centre built on a tabula rasa. Little thought was given to any cultural heritage. Subsequent protest at this planned destruction ensured changes to the original redevelopment plans to incorporate historic building conservation and some archaeological investigation but it was far from ideal, and often became tangled in the ongoing politico-religious conflicts (Sandes 2010).
Aleppo is another such city; occupation can be traced back to the 10th century BCE, and its old city has World Heritage status. The ongoing Syrian war has caused dreadful destruction of the city and its peoples, but in the rebuilding how important will this cultural heritage be considered?
This paper examines the role of the built heritage, particularly archaeology, in the (post-)conflict urban reconstruction process and with reference to Beirut, examines what archaeology has the potential to offer to the rebuilding and rehabilitation of Aleppo and its communities.

“The city is as old as eternity, but still young, and it has never ceased to exist. Its days and nights have been long; it has survived its rulers and commoners. These are its houses and dwellings, but where are their former residents and the people who visited them? These are its palaces and chambers of court, but where are the Hamdanid princes and their poets? They have all passed away, but the city is still here. City of wonders! It endures. Its kings fall; they disappear, but its destruction has not been ordered”.