New World Summit: Rojava
(Project by Jonas Staal)
Pavilion & Park
by Jonas Staal
The New World Summit is an artistic and political organization that develops parliaments with and for stateless states, autonomist groups, and blacklisted political organizations. The New World Summit: Rojava consists of two parts: a commission by the autonomous government of Rojava (northern Syria) to design and construct a new public parliament and an international summit in the region.
In 2012, amidst the civil war in Syria, Kurdish revolutionaries, together with Assyrian, Arab, and other peoples of the region, declared the autonomy of Rojava. This resulted in the foundation of the Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava which practices a form of ‘stateless democracy’ based on local self-governance, gender equality, and communal economy. The New World Summit: Rojava, locally referred to as the ‘People’s Parliament of Rojava,’ takes its inspiration from this political model. Its circular form emphasizes a communal politics, the surrounding pillars mention key terms from the Social Contract and the rooftop consists of fragments of flags of local political and social organizations. As such, the parliament is both a spatial manifesto of the Rojava Revolution, as well as a concrete space where its ideals are practiced on a day to day basis.
Project | New World Summit: Rojava
Concept | Sheruan Hassan (PYD), Amina Osse (PYD) and Jonas Staal
Commisioned by | Jonas Staal
Type | Pavilion & Park
Date | 2015-2018
Location | Dêrik (Rojava Syria)
Architecture | Paul Kuipers
Graphic Design | Remco van Bladel
Production Coordinator | Younes Bouadi
Construction | Tamer Kandal, Newzad Mohammed, Ibrahim Sado and Zozan Hassan
Photography (top) | Ernie Buts
Images (down) | Younes Bouadi & Paul Kuipers