Isifya| Between People, Water, and Land: Using Geological Faults to Revive Springs and the Public Landscape

Isfiya, a historic Druze village on Mount Carmel, was for generations sustained by a rich cultural landscape of water and traditions: flowing springs, infiltration ponds, communal agriculture, and seasonal foraging. These open spaces were not only sources of livelihood, but communal arenas of shared knowledge, belonging, and collective life. In recent decades, urbanization, regulations restricting rainwater harvesting and foraging, and the privatization of agriculture have gradually eroded these communal traditions. What was once accessible to all has become a privilege, and community life has retreated into the private domain rather than flourishing in the public realm.

This loss is inseparable from the decline of the village’s water systems. Springs that once anchored communal life are disappearing. Ein al-Balad, once the heart of the village and a daily gathering place, is now almost absent from local memory. Reduced infiltration areas and dense construction prevent the aquifer from being replenished, and the springs are drying up. Yet within the geology of Mount Carmel lies potential for renewal: the mountain is crossed by numerous geological faults, beneath which lies a confined aquifer feeding the local springs. The project proposes to harness these faults as rapid infiltration channels. Managed recharge of stormwater into the aquifer can restore the flow of existing springs and encourage the emergence of new ones — either naturally or through planned tunnels(neqba). These faults are more than geological phenomena; they are a living system that must be safeguarded as active infiltration pathways sustaining both the aquifer and heritage.

Building on this mechanism, the project envisions a new public landscape: a network of trails and gathering spaces connecting infiltration ponds, recharge zones, and springs. Water becomes the organizing force of space, re-centering the public realm at the heart of the village. Beyond a hydrogeological solution, the project seeks to preserve intergenerational knowledge of water and landscape management, ensuring a resilient resource for future generations. Isfiya thus resists becoming another anonymous place, instead reclaiming its unique identity and offering a model of local sustainability — where people, water, and land once again operate as a living, inseparable system of culture and landscape