Bilateral Beirut

Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbaya, Ecuador, Facultad de Arquitectura y Diseno Interior

Project idea

Concept: KINTSUGI (art of uniting)
After an explosion of an unstable compound, two civil wars and the economic and political crisis that Lebanon is going through, Beirut has been left in fragments. These fragments are both literal, because of the devastation after the explosion, and figurative: political instability, separation and the evident segmentation by culture and religion.

These fragments have been interpreted as a broken ceramic pot, which has resulted in small pieces that seek to unify. The objective of this project is to recover the fragmented city through an element that unifies and repairs these segments that have been woven through the constructed
green space.

Project description

The name of the BILATERAL BEIRUT project was taken from the meaning of the word Bilateral which means: "Of the two parts, sides or aspects that are considered, that are related to one thing or that are affected by its consequences.", which is the The main intention in the project is to generate two parts of the port (city area and seaport area) which have a connectivity and relationship, and as well as function separately, also complement and integrate with Beirut.

Generate a more direct connection between the seaport and the city, which is connected through a linear park which is the main connector of the entire project program. Also generate more areas of tourism and commerce, so that the value of land in this area is higher.

Technical information

To carry out the concept in the project, four main strategies were designed: the first is to break the dam to generate two different sea areas in the port, the first to be exclusively used for maritime trade, and the second to be of an exclusive use for the city, which can be used for water sports and tourism.
The second strategy is the redesign of road axes, to generate streets that connect the port with the city in a better way, and also generate exclusive paths for pedestrians.
The third is to redesign the use of the land, in order to have a financial zone, a housing zone, a commercial zone and a cultural zone.
Finally, the last strategy is to generate a path of milestones that starts at the Mohammad Al Amin Mosque and ends at the Silos memorial, so that this new part of the city tells the story of Beirut to foreigners. And be a reflection of resilience for citizens.