BEIRUT -- Designing a last resting place for a man who symbolizes a nation and its people is not an easy task. The job does not become any easier when the structure must serve as both a shrine for that one man, as well as a monument for a broader cause. It is fitting then that Palestine's most notable (and able) architect should be asked to design the tomb that will forever be associated with Palestine's most famous son, the late Yasser Arafat.

Jafar Tukan, a Palestinian-Jordanian, is that architect. He is currently reviewing several proposed designs of Arafat's mausoleum in its temporary location of Ramallah alongside Palestinian officials, with a view to having the project well underway or even completed by the first anniversary of Arafat's death in November.

From the start, this task required a delicate blend of the personal and the political, as Tukan explained during a conversation in Beirut last week.

"When you design a mausoleum for someone like Yasser Arafat, it has to deal with his personal history, but it also has to reflect the popular mood of the Palestinian people, and how this man represented this mood during his life," Tukan says.

The project is even more challenging because it is intended to be a temporary mausoleum, given the hope that Arafat will one day be reburied in Jerusalem. So the site has to be designed for possible changes and re-use in the future.

As with any other architectural design challenge, Tukan started with the practical given - the existing tomb located inside the muqataa Palestinian government headquarters in Ramallah, with the body lying on its right side facing Mecca. And, because Islamic tradition requires visitors to approach the grave facing the deceased, not from the side or behind, the approach to the mausoleum must be from the direction of Mecca.

"So we have a promenade coming from the direction of Mecca from the south, towards the mausoleum," he says. "This lends itself to reasonable site planning, because the site is not just the mausoleum. It also houses the offices of the Palestinian Authority president and prime minister. It was badly damaged during the last years of Arafat's life, other than a small part of it where Arafat was living.

"Those rooms and the mausoleum will become something of a memorial compound, with the mausoleum as the focal point, an open-air prayer space alongside it, and a promenade between the grave and the building where Arafat lived. The building will be preserved as something of a small museum of his life, with personal memorabilia items."

Tukan's plan for the site also anticipates the need to accommodate dignitaries as well as ordinary visitors, given the expected regular flow of tourists, students, and, of course, Palestinians.

In addition, the schemes are designed so that the space around the mausoleum could be transformed for public use after a potential move to Jerusalem. Given the proposed size of the mausoleum, it might even serve as a pavilion for concerts or public events.

But beyond mere practical considerations, Tukan wanted at once to capture the spirit of the man and his people's national struggle, along with the temporary nature of the site.

"I approached this by making the base of the mausoleum and the promenade that leads to it somewhat suspended from, and floating above, the ground, with invisible supports beneath them," he says.

"Another aspect of the temporary symbolism is how the floor of the promenade approaching the site splits into two and rises above the mausoleum and prayer space, forming a triangle that becomes the cover of the mausoleum and prayer space.

"Behind the grave is a water surface, a reflecting pool symbolizing life and the continuity of life for the Palestinian people. There's also a lot of light inside the space, symbolizing optimism and the insistence of the Palestinian people to go on living and to establish their state. The abstract and minimalist aspects of this design were intended to reflect the conceptual simplicity of the case of the Palestinian people - that this is a displaced people that is fighting to regain its country and homeland. This in itself is a very simple, straightforward and clear case, though it has become surrounded by complex issues."

The initial concept proved a bit too symbolic for some Palestinian officials, and Tukan is working on alternatives to choose from. One more traditional design would replace the triangular cover shape with a simple cube made of Jerusalem stone on all sides, with some simple square openings and an inscribed frieze around it. This revised proposal (pictured above) is currently being discussed.

But what does the structure represent in the final analysis, a man or a cause?

"I was obsessed with the fact that the propaganda against the Palestinians usually depicts them as terrorists or killers who enjoy death. I wanted the mausoleum to show that the Palestinians are part of this contemporary world and its spirit of life, and that they are not as has been (wrongly) depicted," says Tukan.

"The monument should represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people to be part of this modern world. I felt the man in principle represents the cause. He lived a modest life at the personal level and was a genuine person. His methods and approach were his own, and often controversial.

"But he contributed to keeping the Palestinian cause alive, and making it internationally known. Political controversy was part of his life, but after his death I think the symbolism of his cause is what's most interesting for me in this project. The mausoleum should represent him through representing the Palestinian cause, and the adjacent museum will reflect on the person and his life."