The voluntary prison of art and culture

Project idea

In the heart of Beirut's downtown, the lux project “Solidere” has led to many faces of separations between it, and the urban area around.
The project aims to create an urban and social connection between it, and the suburb district “Bachoura”.

Project description

The Project is an underground link between the two areas:
3 different piazzas pass under the bridge of Fouad Chehab, and creates beneath, public spaces for commercial use, exhibitions, cultural and artistic events.
The ground floor level is a free unobstructed plan for circulation and access to underground piazzas.
above two cubes rises, the first from Bachoura's side the other Solidere's.
The slabs inside both cubes is an extension to the piazzas that rises from the underground to be captured in both volumes (the past and the history toward the unknown future).
On Bachoura’s side exists the first cube, and used as information center and communication. The other side (Downtown Solidere) is the complementary. The cube is a factory of arts, with a different kind of classes used for painting, music, acting…And beneath, exists all the public spaces, where exhibitions, cultural and artistic events happen.
The project coexists with an old church, old cinema shaped like an egg, converted into a digital exhibition space, and an archeopark at the lower level.

Technical information

- The Project consists of a 12m excavation on a 19000 sqm area,
- The bottom is conserved for archeological discovery due to its historical location.
-The other two piazzas slabs are steel structure
-Both cubes have double facades glass and perforated steel in order to create a reflection during the daylight and used as projection screens during the night.

Co-authors

Under the supervision of Mr. Georges Hakim