Stitching Spatially

Stitching Spatially tells the story of Palestinians who were uprooted from their villages in 1948 but remained within the state’s borders. Many became “refugees at home,” and their absence is still felt in the landscape and daily life of Arab towns.
One example is the destroyed village of al-Damun. Its people lost their homes, while the nearby village of Kabul grew onto its lands. Today, only fragments of al-Damun remain, silent reminders of a policy meant to erase both place and memory.
This project asks: how can spatial planning serve as a critical tool of expression while preserving the heritage and history of place? Instead of rebuilding the lost village, the design creates an alternative presence, one that connects history, identity, and contemporary life.
The site itself, al-Damun’s former lands now planned for Kabul’s growth, embodies the tension between erasure and remembrance. The project moves through three steps: uncovering history through maps and testimonies, reinterpreting Palestinian embroidery as a design language, and shaping new forms inspired by the traditional Arab village.
In doing so, Stitching Spatially offers a way to “re-stitch” past and present, giving space to Palestinian memory, challenging erasure, and making visible the ongoing reality of internal displacement.