2024-05-19T02:04:35-04:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/150202648/tulane-grad-yara-hantash-uses-subterranean-architecture-to-invert-architecture-s-role-in-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict Sean Joyner 2020-06-16T10:00:00-04:00 >2020-06-16T16:44:22-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/05/058f4e9cef922bbf8a05ac55af2e5846.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Yara Hantash is a recent graduate from <a href="https://archinect.com/schools/cover/8641480/tulane-university" target="_blank">Tulane University</a>'s undergraduate architecture program. Archinect was able to connect with Yara to learn more about her experience culminating design research through her thesis project during the coronavirus pandemic. Titled <em>Involuntary Utopia,</em> her exploration centers around the Isreali-Palestinian conflict and how architecture has become "an indisputable act of violence."</p> <p>Yara takes us through her exploratory investigation of the possible solutions to the architectural problems created by what she has identified as an uninhabitable Jerusalem. Producing this project while learning remotely, Yara says she realized that the new focus on presenting her project virtually provided unique opportunities to craft a more "cinematic" narrative for her audiences.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://archinect.com/features/tag/1582910/2020-thesis" target="_blank">Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects</a></strong>:&nbsp;<em>2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities ha...</em></p>