Maka:n al'amal - A place of Hope

Project idea

On August 4, 2020, we were sitting on a project after
hearing the shocking news that an explosion
had been denatured in the port of Beirut At
that point, we both realized that we needed
to tackle this issue to create a change for this
place
Since we both have a multicultural background,
we considered the international space
to find a challenging topic we could attend
in our panel. As time progressed, we
have come to realize that Beirut is the perfect
the base for us to make a difference. With the background that Adam is from Lebanon and
includes a personal association to the country,
and Cristiana, as a neutral interested person,
who desires to advocate for this issue, we set to
approach this topic.

,,Our space is destroyed but we are not.’’
(Rana Haddad)
The aim of the work is to rebuild the area. We
want to create a place that gives people hope.
In this work, we define hope by stabilizing the
economy, new jobs, affordable housing, cultural
offers, and publicly accessible green and
open spaces. By combining all of this, we are
creating a new urban context that will serve
as a thought-provoking development for the
reconstruction of the port. It consists of five
units, in the first unit we concentrate on generating
a basic understanding of the country
and its people and analyzing all the relevant
aspects. Based on literature and articles about
the country and the city of Beirut, we compile
information that serves as a basis for the
further course of the work. In addition to the
acquired knowledge, we go into more detail
about the history and function of the port of
Beirut in order to define the plan area.
With the selected planning area, we carried
out an inventory in order to be able to record
the conditions and consequences of the explosion
more precisely and to create a design
basis. The analysis helps us create an accurate
vision for that area of the plan.
The design provides a vision that can be used
as a thought-provoking basis in the future
planning of the reconstruction of the port.
For this purpose, we examine the area from
various aspects and work out the best possible
functions for the area. With the help of a
solution program, we summarize the guiding
principles of the project, which we present in
a masterplan.
In order to get a more precise idea of how the entire area can be redesigned, we consider individual
areas. These areas, have different
building types are presented atmospherically
with the help of isometrics and perspectives
to give impulses on how the reconstruction of
the area can succeed. We attach great importance
to the connection between the city of
Beirut and the new district
This area in Beirut can become an iconic place
for nature, culture, heritage, and conversation,
providing a unique waterfront public service
area for the people and visitors of Beirut.
A more holistic design solution can fix the
shortcomings with our current plans for the
port, we can create a scheme that can evolve
with the changing environmental conditions
of the future and create hope for this area.

Project description

The aim of the work is to rebuild the area. We
want to create a place that gives people hope.
In this work, we define hope by stabilizing the
economy, new jobs, affordable housing, cultural
offers, and publicly accessible green and
open spaces. By combining all of this, we are
creating a new urban context that will serve
as a thought-provoking development for the
reconstruction of the port.
The tragedy of the explosion in the port of
Beirut added to the already fragile state of the
city of Beirut and on Lebanon as a whole. As a
result, Beirut witnessed a mass housing shortage,
increase in unemployment, and a collapsing
economy among many other things that
affect the wellbeing of its residents.
The project aims to create a new whole
“makan:n al’amal” port area that stands for
hope, new perspective, and especially in a culturally
and morphologically complex and diverse
context such as the city of Beirut, the
reconstruction of the port can be an opportunity
for the creation of an inclusive accessible
and shared infrastructure.
Through creating new housing areas, cultural
spaces and much more the reconstruction represents
a unique opportunity for the rebirth
of the whole city, trying on the one hand to
address the mobility problem and the lack of
public space and on the other, to give continuity
to the morphological diversity of the city.
The goal of the project is therefore to give
back the port the leading role in the social and
the economic life of the inhabitants of Beirut
and also, to reclaim the waterfront.
In order to create a mixed-use district with an
inclusive identity, the master plan provides
the division of the land into plots that must
guarantee the simultaneous presence of different
types of dwellers, users, and stakeholders
with different incomes.
The participation of the mixed and diverse
investors are the strategy to finally guarantee
shared ownership and therefore a communal
and transversal attachment to the area.
The master plan is organized by the extension
of the main urban pattern axes, the creation of
a public pathway that follows the waterfront,
line and the reinterpretation of the most characteristic
morphological typologies of Beirut.
The green network, the public spaces and
mobility is structured in layers and has the primary purpose is to being freely accessible.
From the beginning, it was important for us
not to apply a master plan with a European
characteristics in Beirut. We see the challenge
and the responsibility with us architects above
all in responding to the inhabitant - the
future use not only of the building but also
of the urban space. Responding to the needs
and concerns of the humans. It is necessary
to deal with the different groups of
people and age groups, as well as any social
aspects, but also with the external conditions
and framework conditions, where especially
the policy plays an essential role.
For our project, it was indispensable to deal
with all these aspects. We want to give the people
who live and work in Beirut a perspective.
In doing so, it was important for us to understand
the culture, the way of life and the
sociology of the country. In constant dialogue
with each other, we not only met together more and more on one level
in terms of expertise about Beirut and Lebanon,
we questioned and reflected a lot.
Together, we understood more and more how
people live there, how they interact with each
other or not, how they celebrate and mourn,
and so on.
These insights served us to be able to approach
this project with a certain degree of empathy
and thus, to meet the people in Beirut at eye
level - that was and is our goal. With the help
of this vision and this knowledge, we are
now developing a neighborhood in Beirut. A
neighborhood that offers a lot of room for
new interpretations and interventions, not
only because of its size. It is a quarter with
a significant location directly by the Mediterranean
Sea, which underlines its specialness
as well as its versatility. We want to take up
these qualities and integrate them in a mixed-use
quarter, the ‘’maka:n al’amal - A Place of
Hope’’

Technical information

The present city of Beirut struggles with its past and at the same time experiences the emergence of its future through the master plan presented in this panel, we are contributing to the creation of
the future of Beirut by redesigning the old port area and making this area a more sustainable one as well as circular, inclusive and resilient.
In this way, we are creating hope for the people who live and work in Beirut - hope in the new neighborhood: maka:n al’amal.
Working with infrastructures, designs, density, and height as well as different typologies is essential for the transformation. The combination
of these different elements creates a new urban city structure. This new urban city structure is based not only on the existing Beirut but also on the shapes of the interface between the city and the Mediterranean Sea
which connects them.
Maka:n al’amal consists of five different units. By illuminating the individual districts, we present more detailed characteristics and possible
developments.
In order to establish a connection between maka:n al’amal and the city and to emphasize the goal of networking the individual districts, we have reactivated the Charles El Helou bus station.
The integration of public transport creates a connection between the existing structure and maka:n al’amal. The resulting networking is
not only based on mobility, but also on connectivity among people.
In addition to the waterfront, which is mainly used for industrial purposes, we have also made it publicly accessible for people, which
is why Plage de la liberté. is an important milestone for Beirut. To counteract the problem of privatization, there are now many publicly
accessible places, such as the Promenade du Liban, Bassin d’eau, and Place pour l'espoir, which create unprecedented access to the water.
The cultural site is intended to create a connection between the public space and the living area and has views of the water and the
existing structure of the city. Place de la culture has the function of bringing together people from the city as well as from maka:n al’amal, thus serving as the center.

Thanks to the range of different types of housing, be it student housing or multi-generational housing, as well as sustainable and affordable housing, people can also find a place to stay in the central location of maka:n al’amal. Housing that is not only well connected by public transport, but also connects people with one another. In addition, the
ground floor areas will be adapted to different commercial uses and will take up the existing structures in the city of Beirut.
An essential component of the city and the
port area is industrial production, which continues to take place there.
Le Port is an efficient, compressed reconstruction of the port.
New and secure jobs are created there, which
not only gives hope to the people but also
drives the economy of the country. Compressing
the Port creates transparency that didn’t
happen before.
What all these units have in common is the
accessibility of every place, people can move
around freely and thus be better connected to
their own city.
It is about creating a community made up of
many different flows: the flow of industrial
production, housing, the flow of culture, and
the flow of public accessibility, all these flows
are united by the urban identity of the Mediterranean
Sea and downtown, which both offers
visitors as well as residents’ access to all
This arrangement creates a new urban metabolism
in which materials are brought onto the
site, processed, and sold there.
Both manufacturing and retail are disappearing
in cities. We combine the interfaces between
the different production streams and
the experience of the city into a public sphere.
Maka:n al’amal is a good stimulus and can be
used as a catalyst for future developments in
the city of Beirut.
Cities are made for people. Urban communities
are places where people come together and
come to reflect, share collective narratives and
personalities.
Beirut’s spirit is its people; we have to begin
with them.

Documentation

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