BEIRUTIST FOODTURE CITY

Tsinghua University (THU), School of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Beijing

Project idea

There is still hope! Hope for sustenance and food security in Beirut City that later, extends into the greater Lebanon. The aftermath of the 2020 August blast has devastated Beirut’s local identity and grain silo. It further disrupts the city’s already collapsing food system – food shortages, food prices inflation and issues of diet malnutrition due to the deflated Lebanese pound value and high 80% reliance on food imports sourcing the country’s total food supply.

The identity of Lebanon’s culture well-embodies local solid food culture through healthy diets, food-sharing practices, and community gatherings. Thus, exploring the possibility of empowering Beirutists’ to be integral to reuniting the blast-affected sites. Together, reviving their local food culture while they interconnect and embrace their newly enhanced food culture of cultivating ‘Local self-resilience alongside the ‘Food Production’, ‘Food Education’ and ‘Farm Education’ experience.

Project description

Beirutist Foodture City is projected to spur food-sharing experiences throughout the urban voids in Beirut City, supplying food yet celebrating communities’ local culture. Food experience and liveability Co-Living clusters in each Food City develop to distribute and initiate various scales deployable to small neighbourhood communities. They consist of Aquaculture – Marine Farming and Aquaponics, Terracing Urban Farms, Community Kitchens, Makerspaces and Sharing Hubs. The revitalised Silo would beacon into a new Memorial Park overseeing the vibrant cityscapes horizon of Beirut City, central to commemorate the lost souls whilst remembering the new hope for the future.

Alas! A new life of Beirut is now focused on the reinvigorated waterfront with food cities axle towards the central floating performance stage, sprouting new music festivals and live cultural performances activating the waterfront promenade in celebration of welcoming the new Beirut City life.

Technical information

The Food City reimagined a self-sustenance prototype merging ‘Port x City’ life and food experience to educate the importance of food source diversification and sustainable, viable food production solutions. The Masterplan first loop Karantina, Gemmeyzeh, Mar Mikhael and the CBD communities into a well-connected waterfront promenade. Then introducing new food cities leads city dwellers towards the water edges while activating the food-port zone. We aimed to develop in 3 phases. First, focusing on high-yield industrial essential food produced through vegetable crops and marine-farming cultivation will immediately supply the local food chain and create new job opportunities. Secondly, we collaborated on new co-living urban farming communities’ prototypes within the Food City. Lastly, to develop a community-oriented Civic and Cultural line with supporting programs to encourage the seamless integration of the local Beirutist ‘streets and alleyways’ lifestyle into the public Foodture City.