Walls Book Update
I am still working on my walls book. Those who have been following my blog already know I’ve spent much of the last two years abroad conducting research for the book. So far I’ve visited Algeria, Morocco, the Western Sahara, Ceuta and Melilla, northeast India, Kashmir, Israel, Palestine and Cyprus. Starting in mid-August I will begin a ten-month residency at the University of Calgary to try to turn my stacks of illegible travel journals into something resembling a first draft.
My original idea for this book had me covering walls and barriers in about a dozen different countries and territories around the world. Lately I’ve come to the realization that this was, perhaps, rather too ambitious. There is some concern about whether I can manage a narrative line that links all of these diverse places. I don’t want to write a series of postcards. I want to write a story.
So, I am going to simplify my intentions. Aside from a return to Kashmir (my time there last November was too brief) and a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, I will focus the ‘walls’ book on the places I’ve already been. I am excited, and honoured, to have the time and space offered by my residency to get this done.
Elsewhere 
Hi, I am doing an architectural project in order to promote awareness of the seperation barrier. You seem to be an expert in this subject, and I was wondering, if a new check point were to be built on the seperation barrier, what different places along the barrier would be a good location? I am aware that a new check point is not enough, but the information needed for the project. -Chen Lu
Hello Chen Lu.I am not sure I understand your question. There are checkpoints along the Wall and within Palestine itself. If you are only talking about crossing points through the Wall, then I don't think I can be of much help. You'd be better off asking a Palestinian this question. The problem with the Wall, as I see it, is not so much the location and number of crossing points, but the fact that the Wall exists at all. If the Wall must exist, it should follow the 1967 borders and not push east of the Green Line.Try contacting the the people at stopthewall.org. They might be able to give you more nuanced help than I can.
Another blog that might interest you, Chen, especially from an architectural perspective, is subtopia.blogspot.com.