Local Urbanization | Heritage, Indigenousness and Capital

The Arab villages in Israel suffer from a shortage of quality public spaces. Recently, however, the private market has been growing stronger, as evidenced by real estate construction that has been breaking historical conventions of land ownership and turning it into a consumer product. The project addresses the question: How can local public spaces be redesigned in parallel with the growth of the private market and increased real estate construction?

The project focuses on the western neighborhood of Kfar Yassif, an Arab village in the Western Galilee with an abundance of local heritage elements that have been neglected over the years. This neglect stands out in the face of a new construction trend of generic residential buildings that run counter to the character of the historic neighborhood and traditional land-sharing principles, and which are intended for sale on the free market. The project uses the new economic forces to redesign the neighborhood while integrating and rehabilitating the public areas and heritage components.