The image of Beirut from integrating circuits

Project idea

Beirut has long suffered from political, economic, cultural, and religious complications. The explosion in the port has generated a decline and loss of goods, infrastructure, and services and the idea of coexistence and fraternity has been moving further and further away. The objective of the project is not only to commemorate the damage that Beirut has experienced but also the cultural-religious richness that it has and how these two characteristics can be unified and spread the culture of tolerance and living in a fraternity.
Also, to turn Beirut into a lively, habitable, safe, sustainable and inclusive center, which through its multicultural wealth recovers its historical and heritage value; so that, through its identity and traditions, its diversity becomes a strength that is inserted into the dynamics of the metropolis as a meeting place.

Project description

The project works as a system of connections that are linked through existing and proposed programs. It is called an integrating circuit since it seeks to value the representative spaces of Beirut as a cultural heritage that encourages the generation of a new image for the urban configuration. The circuit starts from the Plaza de Los Mártires and connects to the port with the passenger terminal and the cultural complex and the commemorative plaza in Los Silos.
The objective is to recognize these representative landmarks and interconnect them through a route until completing a circuit that integrates the port with the city and presents a general, integrated image of all of Beirut.

Technical information

The Mat Building technique established by Alison Smith was used to create a compact and composite urban fabric that helps maintain a balanced organization of solids and voids. In addition, this idea was used to turn the port into an organism that moves, grows, and breathes.
Through the Mat Building in the port, the aim is to create closely linked patterns of association, which begin to interconnect and have the possibility to grow or decrease according to the needs of users. In addition, the entrance to the Port is born from the city, therefore, 3 axes are used that are born from the existing urban structure, and with this, a connection between port and city is achieved.