In an effort to build nonsectarian institutions in a village fraught with communal tensions, French architecture students are studying how Druze and Christians avoid each other in the mountain village of Salima, Lebanon. The Druze are a distinct and exclusive minority group concentrated in the mountain areas of Lebanon, Syria and northern Israel. Druze identity is centered on their religion, started in the 9th century C.E. as a monotheistic splinter from Islam, and about which relatively little is known. The Druze do not accept converts, only marry other Druze, rarely leave the faith, and keep their religious doctrines and practices secret.
Druze and Christians traditionally inhabited Salima in equal numbers, but the Lebanese civil war motivated the wealthier Christians to move to Beirut. Today, 80% of the village is Druze. But more and more Christians are moving back to rebuild destroyed houses, leading to increasing hostilities between the two groups.
A ten-day workshop, organized by a French nonprofit organization, Inheritance Without Borders, on reinventing public space, wrapped up this week. In the Salima village school, fourteen architectural students presented the results of their work. Their ideas centered around the landscape of the village, and how it can be used in tandem by the currently segregated communities. The architects aimed to foster both cultural reconciliation and ensure the preservation of ancient buildings. A key component of their research involved the local children. For the most part, adults did not like to talk of the tensions in the village, whereas children opened up to the architects and discussed the places where their parents did not allow them to play. The architects interviewed residents about which group used which particular spaces, and then produced sketches showing areas divided into red and blue zones, to represent the Druze and Christian spaces.
The students’ aim was to create neutral ground for all of the villagers, and they had to test their ideas to make sure they were on the right track. They chose the ruins of an old house to serve as the potential site of a youth center, directly across from the village school. This area is currently one of the few spaces frequented by both Christians and Druze. To encourage interaction between the Druze and Christians, and to see if their plans would work, the architects came up with events and activities for the neutral zone. The multigenerational ten-day workshop included exhibitions, concerts, films, and a traveling library. “It’s a great success that the events attracted both Christians and Druze,” said a Lebanese student of architecture.
Due to questions about funding, the students don’t know if their designs will be implemented. They say that the government or other outside party must sponsor the project, because individual sponsorship would mean the buildings would be associated exclusively with either the Druze or Christians, thus de-neutralizing the space. The Institute of French Architecture raised $40,000, but used it to plan past and future workshops.
The villagers were very welcoming towards the students, and are hopeful that future architectural students will follow through on these promising ideas. The students for their part emphasized that their extensive dialogue with the villagers helped them learn about the two cultures, and deepened their understanding of their differences and similarities. Despite the continuing tensions in relations between Druze and Christians in Lebanon, the students are optimistic that their architectural work could serve as a foundation towards the reconstruction of mutual tolerance in Salima.
