EMERGENCY POP UP SCHOOL

The 7 October massacres that occurred in the western Negev left behind a trail of destruction and devastation; Whole communities were torn from their homes. Aid organizations and various communities rallied to provide rapid support for displaced individuals and communities. The plight of special education children, especially those on the autistic spectrum, was particularly severe, requiring a sensitive, efficient, and swift response.

Drawing on my experience from around the world addressing the challenge of establishing educational spaces in disaster areas, alongside knowledge gathered during a specialized course named ״Earthquake ״ which I led at Bezalel in 2022, coalesced into the initiative of establishing a pop-up school for children with special needs who had been studying in makeshift spaces in hotels around the Dead Sea.

The project involved the repurposing of a structure that had served as a tourist center before the outbreak of war into a school center. It includes classrooms, Kinder gardens, private therapy rooms, activity areas, and a courtyard for physical activities. The choice of cardboard as the primary material stemmed from the need to utilize readily available, inexpensive, and versatile material, while also aiming to preserve a sense of temporariness as a message of aspiring to return to the familiar and known routine of city life and the familiar school that left behind. The cardboard, as it turned out, became a broad canvas allowing for the expression of children›s feelings and emotions through drawing and writing.