Process of an Architectural Concept Generation: The Revival of a Historical Building: A Case Study of Jifna Castle

An architectural design concept represents the core value of the design, and it is the string that keeps all design decisions related and original. It needs to be achieved by understanding the holistic nature of the project before adopting one main idea that will be the essence of the design. Approaching historical buildings needs special effort since several aspects are involved and every design decision needs to be carefully studied and sensible. This paper examines different influences affecting inspirations and approaches to develop the architectural design concept of a historical building, as well as how they can lead to the concept formation. The research methodology is based on a practical application to upcycle a case study of a historical castle that dates back to the crusader era in Palestine. In order to generate an architectural approach for the proposed historical structure, several design aspects were studied, e.g., historical, geographical, spiritual, and incidental. These aspects assure a more comprehensive approach to the design and generated a framework representing a design process aid tool. The progressive framework helped in generating and developing the architectural design decisions while approaching the historical building to maintain and celebrate its values while accommodating recent or existing needs. The proposed framework can be used by designers, archeologists, and buildings preservers to generate inclusive approaches to design concept generation.