DONNER VIE A BEYROUTH !

USEK - Holy spirit University of Kaslik

Project idea

Beirut is a living fabric of places, memories and identities. "A thousand times dead, a thousand times relived" as the poet Nadia Tueini once said, Beirut refuses to disappear. The preservation of the urban heritage depends on the capacity of each society to inhabit its heritage places and to know how to reconcile tradition and modernity.
Since antiquity, it has remained the cradle of all civilizations, especially that of the Phoenicians who with them began the history of the port.
The place of the star as well as the place of the martyrs will remain the symbolic and living image of the city. But these places suffer from green spaces that unite all inhabitants.
Located at the first quay of the port of Beirut, opposite the lighthouse and near the silot, and a few meters from the public places, my project will be the continuity and the purpose of these memorial places of the city. And in order to bring a pleasant and monumental setting to the seaport that Beirut well deserves, the port in my opinion must have a dual identity. Not only a functional image inviting passengers to come and visit and discover Beirut's memorial sites, but also a public one, which consists in making a landscaped extension of the city creating a friendly space and a memorial garden dedicated to the inhabitants of Beirut. On the one hand a dialogue with the city is established and on the other hand a dialogue with the lighthouse and the silot reminding us of the disaster that Beirut has known.

Project description

My concept then rests on the idea of ​​an urban development offered to the inhabitants of the city creating a space of conviviality and social mixity and all this through a pedestrian esplanade going from the public places arriving on the ground and accessing a roof to reach the level of the urban area.

Technical information

Bleachers invite passengers to discover the view from the roof through a landscaped and equipped garden.
Thus, the volume leading to an interior garden encompasses all the functions of the ferry terminal and the exterior, its envelope serves as a public space for the inhabitants of the city of Beirut.