We(B)eirut: Design Frameworks For Collective Urban Healing & Recovery

We(B)eirut

Design Frameworks

For Collective Urban Healing & Recovery

HUITING QIAN

Masters of Urban Design

YUE XU

Masters of Urban Design

ABSTRACT

A cycle of trauma and recovery shaped modern Beirut. Years of destruction and reconstruction in Beirut have evolved into growing gentrification. In 2020, the explosion at the Port of Beirut shook the northeastern side of the capital, generating unprecedented losses of life and destroying large sections of the city. In the aftermath of the explosion, it became integral to the city’s recovery that post-trauma efforts address the remarkable pain and ongoing gentrification. This design proposal introduces a viable and inclusive space by connecting existing community assets through a web system to strengthen geographical, spatial, and social solidarity. Thus, the project’s name of We(B)eirut can be interpreted as “Web Beirut,” as well as “We Beirut.” The integration of multiple groups is intended to create a united community capable of resisting ongoing gentrification.

We(B)eirut

Design Frameworks

For Collective Urban Healing & Recovery

HUITING QIAN

Masters of Urban Design

YUE XU

Masters of Urban Design

ABSTRACT

A cycle of trauma and recovery shaped modern Beirut. Years of destruction and reconstruction in Beirut have evolved into growing gentrification. In 2020, the explosion at the Port of Beirut shook the northeastern side of the capital, generating unprecedented losses of life and destroying large sections of the city. In the aftermath of the explosion, it became integral to the city’s recovery that post-trauma efforts address the remarkable pain and ongoing gentrification. This design proposal introduces a viable and inclusive space by connecting existing community assets through a web system to strengthen geographical, spatial, and social solidarity. Thus, the project’s name of We(B)eirut can be interpreted as “Web Beirut,” as well as “We Beirut.” The integration of multiple groups is intended to create a united community capable of resisting ongoing gentrification.

INTRODUCTION

In the modern history of Beirut, wars and conflicts play a significant role in processes of redevelopment and displacement.1 The Lebanese Civil War, which ended in 1990, destroyed downtown Beirut, creating a modern city born through trauma and recovery.2 Roughly 40% of the buildings suffered irreversible damage. 3 After the war, the SOLIDERE, a Lebanese company in charge of planning and redeveloping Beirut Central District, began demolition, with many new mega-blocks built where the original buildings had stood. The crudeness of renovation after the civil war resulted in the destruction of 80% of the buildings, bringing the second wave of destruction to the neighborhood.4 Thus, real estate boomed and became one of the most

important sectors of the Lebanese economy. 5 The reconstruction project of Beirut's Central District transformed its downtown into a high-end business and tourism hub and subsequently triggered the cycle of reconstruction.6 The rebuilding also increased the price of land, rendering it unaffordable for the lower- and middle-class residents and creating an area exclusively for the wealthy. Investors and real estate developers gradually destroyed the old buildings and evicted the long-time residents. Many neighborhoods in Beirut had already been gentrified and redeveloped rapidly over the past decade.7 Neighborhoods that previously featured low-rise residential buildings with shops on the ground level are now dominated by garish high-rises. 8 Furthermore, the unique demographics and urban fabric of the city

Figure 1. We(B)eirut opening concept collage.

HOUSING

10,610 buildings with minimal damage (122,890 households); 2,570 buildings with moderate damage (28,980 households); 240 buildings with severe damage (2,310 households), US$ -1,8301 million financial requirements.

BUSINESS

26,560 businesses with a low level of damage; 3,870 businesses with a medium level of damage; 505 businesses with a high level of damage. $865 million financial requirements.

CULTURE

8 historical areas; 480 heritage buildings; 160 additional buildings with special features. $285 million financial requirements.

HEALTHCARE

17 damaged hospitals of which 4 were severely damaged; 16 damaged primary healthcare centers. $75 million financial requirements.

On August 4, 2020, a large explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, killing at least 180 people and injuring over 6,000. Over 40,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The cause of the blast has been attributed to 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was inadequately stored in a port warehouses.

On August 4, 2020, a large explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, killing at least 180 people and injuring over 6,000. Over 40,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The cause of the blast has been attributed to 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was inadequately stored in a port warehouses.

make these neighborhoods particularly sensitive to the impacts of gentrification.

Gentrification occurred in the Monot and Gemmayzeh neighborhoods. Monot, which was heavily damaged during the war due to its proximity to the demarcation line, began to attract a group of artists and other creatives.9 Within a decade, Monot transformed into one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods. This cycle of the artist- and nightlifeled transformation spread to the nearby neighborhood of Gemmayzeh in 2006.10

Figure 2. The extent of the Beirut blast in numbers.

Reactions to the explosion of the Port of Beirut have sounded the alarm of permanent displacement, and fingers are already pointing to predatory real-estate developments that could accelerate the process”

On August 4, 2020, an explosion in the Port of Beirut rocked this already vulnerable city. The blast itself devastated neighborhoods, and the aftermath destroyed around 200,000 housing units in the northeastern side of the capital.11 As Lebanese urban scholar Mona Fawaz said, “Reactions to the explosion of the Port of Beirut have sounded the alarm of permanent displacement, and fingers are already pointing to predatory real-estate developments that could accelerate the process.”12

The blast impacted the historical neighborhoods of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh, which are known for their architectural heritage. The vital, creative, and multicultural neighborhoods were severely damaged. This project will focus on the atmosphere and the change that occurred in these two neighborhoods to heal the trauma, rebuild community assets and resist the divinable gentrification.

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE AND CREATIVE INDUSTRY

The port-facing neighborhoods have a high concentration of historical buildings and working-class dwellers of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Those neighborhoods are considered among Beirut’s most distinct neighborhoods.13

However, many social and cultural assets were lost in the blast.14 In considering the aftermath of the explosion and the foreseeable real estate speculation in surrounding neighborhoods,15 it is clear there is an urgent need to strengthen the unity of local communities so they can confront the growing capital eviction and the increasing risk of permanent displacement. This concept encourages the design elements in the following steps.

Figure 3. Mapping the key neighborhoods

Source: Google Street View.

Figure(s) 4. Snippets of the neighbourhoods impacted by the Beirut Blast.

THE WEB

ARMENIA STREET

Graffiti can be created from a variety of mediums, including spray paint, charcoal, and stickers. Graffiti forms some of the neighborhood’s visual identity.

DR. CHUCRI HOSRI

Dr. Chucri Hosri Street connects Pasteur Street and Gouraud Street. The Building Cyrano has a view of the silo near the explosion’s crater.

STAIRS

For locals, the stairs are particularly symbolic. The old stairs of Beirut have seen the city transform around them. They hold memories of the city’s past.

SAINT NICOLAS

Villa Linda Sursock is located on Saint Nicolas Street and is one of Beirut’s historic landmarks.

GEMMAYZEH

Holy Heart Church, Santa Church, and Sacre Coeur Church and College are all located in Gemmayzeh. Built in the nineteenth century, these churches have quietly witnessed the prayers of all the believers and visitors for ages.

THE LOOP

TOBAJI GARDEN

The land measures 4,695 square meters and has been a garden for over 100 years. In 2014, the garden served as a meeting ground for many activists opposed to a highway project. After the explosion, because it overlooks many of the neighboring houses, rescue workers and volunteers carved out a path through the orchard to access buildings and clear the rubble. It also became a place of rest.

TEQUILA (RMEIL 733)

The building was built in 1920. The first floor is the Tequila Bar, and the upper level is residential. The building was destroyed in the explosion.

COLLÈGE DES TROIS DOCTEURS

The ETD was founded in 1835; it has its origins in a building next to St. George's Cathedral in downtown Beirut. At that time, it was nicknamed "the great school" because it was then the largest educational institution in the capital.

SURSOCK PALACE

The Beirut explosion devastated Sursock Palace. Built in 1860 by Moussa Sursock, it was recognized at the time as one of Beirut’s grandest townhouses.

ST. NICHOLAS STAIRS

The St. Nicholas stairs are the longest stairway in the Middle East with 125 steps and 500 meters in length. Since 1973, the stairs have been used as an open-air art exhibition site twice a year.

Figure 5. Mapping key assets of the Web and the Loop.

WEB GENERATION

With the intention to bond local communities and memorialize the damaged community assets, the alternative approach to Bierut's urban design introduces an inclusive space by connecting existing community assets as a cohesive loop. The loop connects damaged key heritage sites and structures, which are distributed across Beirut’s urban environment. The web system strengthens geographical, spatial, and social solidarity.

The organic form of the neighborhood of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael is characterized by its topographical height difference and the intricate network of community pathways, including walkable streets, covered alleyways, hidden gardens, and staircases. Propelled by the penetrable features of the neighborhood, the loop naturally sprawls into an extensive web. The web creates unity and inclusion in each neighborhood it touches, as well as extending to Beirut’s navigable footprint. Thus,

the project Web Beirut can also be interpreted as We Beirut, which represents a unified Beirut of its people.

SYSTEMS IN WEB

This extensive web creates a spatial dialogue between commercial, residential, historical, and creative systems. The integration of each group, such as residents, artists, and business owners, will create a united and powerful community to resist gentrification. Beirut has already witnessed multiple reconstruction projects that transformed a highly exclusive space and removed the city’s previous scars.16 However, injuries and illnesses are a mark of time and history.17 Following this argument, our design interventions will preserve those urban scars to ensure the preservation of the urban history of Beirut.

Figure 6. Diagrammatic sectional study highlighting the design approach incorporating the healing strategies.

the blast

the blast

DESIGN CONCEPT

The strong will of the community is essential to advancing these healing strategies. After the explosion, banners reading "we are staying," written in both English and Arabic, were ubiquitous in Beirut, elaborating the life which continued to inhabit the city’s ruins.18 Their willingness to survive became the motivation to initiate healing.19 This project envisions a process of reconfiguration of urban functions in response to historic vulnerabilities and injustices.

Figure 7. Diagram identifying locations for the healing interventions.

HEALING STRATEGIES IDENTIFICATION HEALING

A few catastrophic seconds erased aspects of the city’s rich identity. It was defined by a composition of buildings and structures left from the late Ottoman period and French colonial rule. 20 When Lebanon gained its independence from France in 1943, these heritage buildings received modern architectural adaptations.21 Years of renovations created a unique architectural scene: bustling business activities on the ground and quiet residential life on the upper levels. The collective memory of Beirut has been engraved in the buildings. To preserve shared memories and identities, and to benefit future life in the place, our

healing strategy shows great respect to the habitants’ lifestyles in the rebuilding of Beirut’s hurt urban identity. Thus, we named this strategy “Identification Healing.”

Many locals chose to repair their ground floor first so they could reopen their businesses and generate income. The damaged upper levels would require longer-term reconstruction. Our concept follows the local will to rebuild, beginning with the street-level. To memorialize the neighborhood’s trauma, the project keeps the broken façade as it is; the scar will become a mark of time and history. The upper level will be set back so that, in this manner, the corridor can become the extension of the narrow street. The second floor can be used for creative spaces like art galleries or design studios. The upper level is designed for residential use.

Figure 8. Concept illustration.

Figure 9 & 10. Identification healing design strategy and sectional study

GREEN HEALING

While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 9 square meters of green space per capita, 22 Beirut has less than 1 square meter per capita. With this in mind, we propose redesigning several collapsed structures into green spaces, like gardens, pocket parks, or community commons. These added open spaces would stimulate communication and community participation between residents. The green healing would also create an open space network that the city lacks, and urban gardens would increase access to hyper locally-grown food.

The green healing would also create an open space network that the city lacks, and urban gardens would increase access to hyper locally-grown food.”

Figure 11. Concept illustration.

DESIGN STRATEGY BUILDING AFTER THE EXPLOSION

& 13. Green healing design strategy and an axonometric study

CONTEMPLATION HEALING

Beyond immediate responses to destruction and its resulting trauma, healing-centered recovery also calls for a space for further contemplation. Next to Sursock Palace, a monumental structure made of fragmented stones and other debris from damaged historic sites offers both a tangible and intangible sense of belonging. This center is an active testimony of the traumatic events and triggers empathy for Beirut’s experiences.

DESIGN STRATEGY BUILDING AFTER THE EXPLOSION

This center is an active testimony of the traumatic events, and it triggers empathy for Beirut’s experiences.”

Figure 14 & 15. Contemplation healing design strategy and concept illustration.

COMBINED DESIGN STRATEGY

GREEN SPACE SYSTEM

INTERVENTION SYSTEM

WEB SYSTEM

Figure 16. Combined design strategy diagram illustrating the systems at play.

Figure 18. Opening concept collage reimagined with the “We are staying” banner.

Figure 17. We(B)eirut in 2025 diagram highlighting the interventions.

CONCLUSION

In 2020, the city of Beirut fell instantly into distress following the explosion of its main port. The blast left thousands of people homeless and displaced, and many neighborhoods in the northeastern side were severely damaged. 23 After the blast, real estate brokers flocked to the neighborhoods to purchase damaged buildings to demolish for expensive future towers.24

Under such circumstances, We(b)eirut sheds light on the urban recovery needs of Beirut and collective resistance to the ongoing threat of gentrification. The web system creates a unified power to protect the urban and social fabric of the Lebanese capital. The project envisions a collective, therapeutic, and inclusive urban recovery that incorporates the memories, identities, and promises of life after trauma, through a people-centered, placespecific, and heritage-led framework.

The project envisions a collective, therapeutic, and inclusive urban recovery that incorporates the memories, identities, and promises of life after trauma, through a people-centered, place-specific, and heritage-led framework.”

ABOUT HUITING QIAN

Huiting Qian received her Master of Urban Design from University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Southeast University. Her research interests center on bringing multidisciplinary problem-solving methods to progressive gentrification.

ABOUT YUE XU

Yue Xu is a graduate student in the Urban Design program at the University of Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the South China University of Technology. Using active and empathetic approaches through design mediums is a key research interest for Yue. You can chat with Yue on Instagram at @noraxuyue.

END NOTES

1. Krijnen, Marieke and De Beukelaer, Christiaan. "Capital, state and conflict: The various drivers of diverse gentrification processes in Beirut, Lebanon." Global gentrifications: Uneven development and displacement (2015): 285-309.

2. Schmid, Heiko. "Privatized urbanity or a politicized society? Reconstruction in Beirut after the civil war." European Planning Studies 14, no. 3 (2006): 365-381.

3. "Beyrouth: Destructions, Reconstructions Et Spéculations." 2020. Le Monde. Fr. https://www. lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/09/08/ beyrouth-destructions-reconstructions-etspeculations_6051412_3210.html.

4. "Beyrouth: Destructions, Reconstructions Et Spéculations." 2020. Le Monde. Fr.

5. Marieke Krijnen, "Capital, state and conflict: The various drivers of diverse gentrification processes in Beirut, Lebanon." 285-309.

6. Beirut Recovered a Series of Articles on PostDisaster Recovery. 2020. Ebook. https://dar.com/ Content/Publications/PUD/Beirut-Recovery-Article%20 2-26112020HR.pdf.

7. Chehayeb, K., 2022. “‘in Limbo’: Beirut Blast Victims Still Struggling To Return Home.” [online] Aljazeera.com. Available at: <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/2/ one-year-on-beirut-blast-victims-still-struggling-to-returnhome> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

8. Krijnen, "Capital, state and conflict: The various drivers of diverse gentrification processes in Beirut, Lebanon." 285-309.

9. Lisa Gerbal, 2016. Linking Economic Change with Social Justice in Mar Mikhael. https://www. aub.edu.lb/ifi/Documents/publications/research_ reports/2015-2016/20160627_linking_MarMikhael.pdf.

10. Gerbal, Linking Economic Change with Social Justice in Mar Mikhael.

11. Christele Harrouk, "Beirut: Between a Threatened Architectural Heritage and a Traumatized Collective Memory." 2022. Archdaily. https://www.archdaily. com/946829/beirut-between-a-threatened-architecturalheritage-and-a-traumatized-collective-memory?ad_ medium=widget&ad_name=related-article&ad_ content=961336.

12. M. Fawaz, and S. Mneimneh, 2022. “Beirut’s Blasted Neighborhoods: Between Recovery Efforts and Real Estate Interests.” [online] The Public Source. Available at: <https://thepublicsource.org/beiruts-blastedneighborhoods-between-recovery-efforts-and-real-estateinterests> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

13. Zgheib, Marie-Line. 2020. "Beirut Recovered A Series Of Articles On Post-Disaster Recovery". Dar.Com. https:// dar.com/Content/Publications/PUD/Beirut-RecoveryArticle%202-26112020HR.pdf.

14. Zgheib, Marie-Line. 2020. "Beirut Recovered A Series Of Articles On Post-Disaster Recovery". Dar.Com. https:// dar.com/Content/Publications/PUD/Beirut-RecoveryArticle%202-26112020HR.pdf.

15. Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, Joana Dabaj, Yara Sleiman, Mayssa Jallad, Sara Maassarani, and Efrosini Charalambous. "Assessing Vulnerabilities for Urban Recovery Solutions in Beirut Post-Explosion: The Case of Mar Mikhael Neighborhood." University College London and Catalytic Action(2022).

16. Zgheib, Marie-Line. 2020. "Beirut Recovered A Series Of Articles On Post-Disaster Recovery". Dar.Com. https:// dar.com/Content/Publications/PUD/Beirut-RecoveryArticle%202-26112020HR.pdf.

17. Mousse Magazine and Publishing. 2022. “Injury and Repair: Kader Attia.” [online] Available at: <https://www. moussemagazine.it/magazine/injury-and-repair-kaderattia-2018/> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

18. Harrouk, Christele. 2020. "Beirut: Between A Threatened Architectural Heritage And A Traumatized Collective Memory". Archdaily. Available at: <https:// www.archdaily.com/946829/beirut-between-athreatened-architectural-heritage-and-a-traumatizedcollective-memory.> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

19. Harrouk, "Beirut: Between A Threatened Architectural Heritage And A Traumatized Collective Memory".

20. Harrouk, "Beirut: Between A Threatened Architectural Heritage And A Traumatized Collective Memory"

21. Marina Apaydin, Rami Baassiri, and Karim Ahmad. Balancing Heritage and Tourism in Tripoli (Lebanon). SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals, 2016.

22. Maryam Nazzal, and Samer Chinder. "Lebanon Cities’ Public Spaces." The Journal of Public Space 3, no. 1 (2018).

23. K. Chehayeb, 2022. ‘In limbo’: Beirut blast victims still struggling to return home. [online] Aljazeera.com. Available at: <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/2/ one-year-on-beirut-blast-victims-still-struggling-to-returnhome> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

24. Chehayeb, ‘In limbo’: Beirut blast victims still struggling to return home.