Practice Makes Culture: The Case of Kafr Biri’m

The third generation of the uprooted community of Kafr Biri’m is realizing their grandfathers’ hopes by regularly returning to the village. Their progress toward a collective culture involves a process of mentally connecting the memories passed down from prior generations as they behold the village’s remaining facades and imagine the history they represent. Feeling the ground with their footsteps, they lead their pilgrimage to the top of the hill, where the church stands.

The young Birimites resort to their acquired cultures in order to celebrate their traditions. The project seeks to offer an accessible, stable ground to host the community’s cultural practice, while creating new roofed spaces for evolving programs. Based on a structure of careful conservation, it preserves the tangible and prevents additional regression, while preparing the remains to be a key stone for generations to come.