Damour Factory

Académie libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Faculty of Architecture

Project idea

The context of this project will be the old silk factory in the Damour agricultural plain, the biggest coastal agricultural zone on the outskirts of Beirut. Besides the agricultural plain, Damour holds a strategic spot as the South entrance to the capital city, as well as marks the entrance to the Chouf region, one of the most touristic, cultural, historical, and ecological regions in Lebanon. Despite of that, Damour, after the many years of suffering development, has been trying to find a way to prosper, and to latch to an identity less painful than its past.
The Damour agricultural plain is known for its vast land filled with banana trees right by sandy beaches. Amidst this scenery lies a 19th century silk factory. The silk industry in Lebanon marked a radical social and economic change in Mount Lebanon, yet its value and importance is barely showcased in remote museums and abandoned buildings.
Within this context, the project will be focusing on several problematics of different calibres. The project will seek to explore the restoration of this silk factory through the concept of adaptive re-use as a mean to preserve its historical heritage, to shed light on what needs to be preserved, as well as explore new ways to go on with a future that is not based on corrupt development incentives. Furthermore, on the local scale (Damour village), it will focus on sustainable development and sustainable tourism, as Damour continues to develop beach resorts and expand construction on the agricultural plain. Finally, on the regional scale (Chouf), it will seek to solidify the ecological values of the region, and finally, to integrate itself in the pre-existing tourism and ecological system.
Thus, creating a project that will focus on creating a hub for people to enjoy the value of an existing monument, and combining our past cultural heritage with its futuristic relevance and practice. The abandoned silk factory will act as the melting pot for innovative design production and experimentation, as well as sustainable tourism, natural and cultural heritage, and will challenge how we want suburban towns to develop and move forward, and how to preserve heritage whilst being futuristic and sustainable at the same time.

Project description

In order to conceive the project, the context of the region had to be extensively studied, and analyzed in order to create a function and a form that directly responds to pertinent socioeconomic issues in the village of Damour.
The Project spans across 2 levels, one is the urban level, where a pedestrian connection (Trail) connects the old village of Damour to the agricultural plain, and to the beach, without any necessity for cars. This Trail will provide a unique experience for the residents and tourists in order to have a fully encompassing experience with nature and the village, and the project.
Furthermore, the project itself is both an ode to heritage and an opportunity to make heritage relevant again through opportunities for local craftsmen and skilled worker to share their knowledge with the public and the future of design, in order to create unique items that have been forged by the experience of the old and the new.
The tower created, not only is it in relation to the abandoned silk factory, but also the whole village of Damour. It offers the public a chance to discover the region from a never experienced before vantage point. Its proportions and height have all been conceived using the same preexisting proportions from the silk factory. Yet, it doesn't not override the old factory, but creates a tension between the two volumes, a sort of back and forth between the two.
With that in mind, the question of longevity cannot be ignored. For what will happen to the buildings we create 200 years from now? Will they errode? be destroyed? Or will nature take over it?
The Tower in Damour Factory highlights this idea of our buildings withstanding the test of time. It seeks in itself to act as an advocate for this process, instead of fighting it. Systems put into place allow nature to climb over it. The tower is completely open air, hence a skeletal aspect remains, and one is left with the nature in the fields, and the sea.

Technical information

VISUAL SEQUENCE:
PURE GEOMETRY- The original Silk factory in its fully functioning form.
REPAIRING- After two hundred years of empty existence, natural deterioration lead to the former silk factory to become the way it is.
REFORMING- Based on the former rational structure, The new creation consists of the same mold, and turn it into a new form but of the same family.
REGROUPING- The proportion of the tower are from a direct relation of the existing volume, transformed into different planes. The height and the distances added in the project are directly an outcome from the existing structure.
REASSEMBLING- A play on the existing volumetry, a parallelism between the volume and the void. For when is a volume, there is always an emptiness surrounding it. A type of loneliness accompanying existence.
TOWER:
The path starts top down, so as following:
OBSERVATORY: The start of the journey. A panoramic walk across the region of Damour.
OUTDOOR AREA 1: Arrival point after a panoramic walk into a green area.
OUTDOOR AREA 2: Outdoor observatory sitting space with a garden.
CAFE: A coffee with a view. Brought forth by experience of spending casual time in the setting, Normalizing the context.
RESTAURANT AREA: Multi-level Sunday lunches. Brought forth by experience of spending casual time in the setting, Normalizing the context.
MULTI-USE AREA: Hosting multi-functional events.
LIBRARY: Access to knowledge, and a cultural space.
SITTING AREA: Communal space for people and workers in the project.
MEDIA LIBRARY: People can learn and have access to knowledge concerning Damour, heritage, and history.
SHOPS: Exit through the shops where the work that has been created in this factory can be purchased and owned by the public.
ENTRANCE(below ground): Starting point of the project. The underground passage provides a parallelism between the passages inside the old silk factory and its proportions.

SILK FACTORY:
PERMANENT & TEMPORARY EXHIBITION: The permanent exhibition space hosts the historical value of the building, and allows people to get to know more about their heritage. The temporary exhibiton space hosts the futuristic value of the building, and allows people to get to know more about the work and creations that are being done by the various workstations in the factory.
WORKSTATIONS: The factory holds several workstations that are related to artisanal skills that are usually linked to heritage and to skillsets that have been developed over time, and in villages. This is where the collaboration between artisans, designers, and skill workers leads to creativity and paves the path forward to heritage becoming a pertinent issue, and where it continues to be re-invented.
The workstations are: Ceramic Workstation, Fabric-Fashion Workstation, Digital Heritage Workstation, and Glass Workstation.
PUBLIC WORKSHOPS: The public workshops are a collaborative work between the artists and the public, bridging the two and opening the chance for anyone to learn to skills, or for the public to attend lectures, or seminars.
OBSERVATION DECK: The observation deck extends the experience between exhibitions and provides a vantage point that combines the silk factory, and the nature around it to be enjoyed and experienced.
ADMINISTRATION: The Administration block is responsible for the maintenance and running of the entire operation of the factory.
INNER COURTYARD: Distributes the functions across the space, with the chance for people to hang out or host events inside.