The Land Speaks Arabic – الأرض بتتكلّم عربي

The project responds to the struggles of the Palestinian Arab people in 1948 by focusing on the forced transformation of the “Wadi Salib” neighborhood, a historic Arab area in Haifa. Utilizing a musical-architectural historical restoration mechanism that reflects the period preceding the Nakba (“the Palestinian catastrophe”), the initiative aims to harmonize past and present by bridging the significant changes that have occurred in the space over the years.

Simultaneously, the project explores how architecture can, like music, traverse time, evoking memories of history and the built environments in which it unfolded. The focal point of the project is the area between “Al-Burj” Street and “Hammam Al-Basha,” examining the outlines of buildings that have been completely or partially destroyed and now stand devoid of residents.

Through musical and architectural means, the project seeks to revive my grandfather’s daily walking route in Wadi Salib, retracing the buildings and paths that once defined his neighborhood. The systematic destruction of Wadi Salib, driven by deliberate urban policy since 1948, erased many buildings and the connections between them. The few remaining structures from the original neighborhood face threats of demolition, while new government buildings and offices inhibit its potential for expansion.

This architectural initiative, informed by musical elements, aims to restore consciousness to what has been erased and to evoke the memory of an absent past.