Beirut Summer Workshop at LAU

This intensive 10-day workshop delves into the vibrant urban fabric of Beirut, exploring the potential of its "residual spaces" - leftover pockets, underutilized zones, and hidden corners within the city. Through a unique blend of traditional planning methods and cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, architecture students will gain the skills to identify, analyze, and propose innovative design solutions for these neglected areas.

The workshop will be divided into three key phases:

Phase 1: Exploration and Analysis (Days 1-3)

Phase 2: Design Thinking with AI Integration (Days 4-5)

Phase 3: Project Development and Presentation (Days 6-10)

By the end of this workshop, students will:

Possess a deep understanding of residual spaces and their potential for urban design interventions.

Be proficient in traditional planning tools and their application in site analysis and design development Gain practical skills in using AI for architectural design generation.

Develop a comprehensive design proposal for a residual space in Beirut that integrates AI-generated forms with traditional planning principles.

Enhance their communication skills through effective presentation of design ideas.

This workshop is an exciting opportunity for architecture students to explore the future of their field. By combining traditional and cutting-edge tools, students will gain the skills and knowledge to reimagine Beirut's urban fabric, one residual space at a time.

Aouad Speaker at DAAD-TA'ZIZ Experts Workshop

Unlock the transformative potential of urban spaces with our first online expert workshop on Urban Acupuncture. Join us as five distinguished experts from Egypt, Cuba, Iraq, and Lebanon converge to present a diverse spectrum of insights, ranging from theoretical frameworks to real-world practical applications. Urban Acupuncture is a holistic approach to urban design that seeks to revitalize and harmonize communities through strategic interventions in the built environment. In this workshop, we delve into the core principles, methodologies, and success stories that have revolutionized cities worldwide.

Aouad’s lecture is entitled “Urban acupuncture for a divided city: Resources and assets”. Aouad will be showcasing ongoing and previous research projects regarding municipality owned land and non-constructible parcels within Municipal Beirut. The event will take place on Tuesday, 31 October 2023 – 14:00 – 18:00 German Time. The event is divided into two sessions, followed by a panel discussion afterwards, each session will host three speakers. The panel discussion will be after each session for 30 min.

Link to website

Aouad to Participate in City Debates 2022

“City Debates 2022 will explore how planning can be (re)conceived and practiced in contexts of dysfunctional states and compounded crises, featuring the work of the AUB/MSFEA Beirut Urban Lab (BUL).”

— Beirut Urban Lab

Beirut’s current in-disaster recovery epitomizes a recurrent scenario in contemporary times, one in which decades of neoliberal governance have hollowed-out public agencies, particularly in developing countries, and left communities vulnerable to large-scale climate or man-made events. In Lebanon and many other contexts of the Global South, even the illusion of representative or people-centered public governance has waned, and public agencies are widely identified as partisan bodies representing private (propertied and financial) interests. The very premise of planning is shaken, since the profession has rested on the now debunked assumption of a common good embodied by a custodian—the nation state. How do cities recover in such contexts? To what extend can relief agencies, local and international, operate in the absence of such a custodian? Can active civic groups and mobilized citizens provide counterpoints?

Beirut’s current in-disaster recovery epitomizes a recurrent scenario in contemporary times, one in which decades of neoliberal governance have hollowed-out public agencies, particularly in developing countries, and left communities vulnerable to large-scale climate or man-made events. In Lebanon and many other contexts of the Global South, even the illusion of representative or people-centered public governance has waned, and public agencies are widely identified as partisan bodies representing private (propertied and financial) interests. The very premise of planning is shaken, since the profession has rested on the now debunked assumption of a common good embodied by a custodian—the nation state. How do cities recover in such contexts? To what extend can relief agencies, local and international, operate in the absence of such a custodian? Can active civic groups and mobilized citizens provide counterpoints?

Link to City Debates website

SynErgy in the City

“Guest teachers and lecturers (amongst many others): Lilet Breddels (Curator and tutor at KULeuven), Nabil Menhem (Urbanist and Architect, co-founder of MetroPolicies and tutor at ALBA), Rani Al Raji (Architect, Creative and DJ), David Aouad (Director Institute for Environmental Studies & Research, Professor at LAU’s School of Architecture and Design)”

— Studio Beirut

Are there ways to organize infrastructural facilities on a neighborhood scale in times of cracking systems and institutions? Directly after the explosion in Beirut in August 2020, we saw an intense solidarity and community sense of the people of Lebanon to help each other from cleaning the rubble to fixing houses to providing food and water. Now that the dust has settled, Beirut and Lebanon are still dealing with huge problems in terms of energy supply, inflation, and lack of resources in general. One of the biggest problems is the lack of energy that literally puts the country on hold. Mobility is another challenge as fuel prices became unaffordable for the majority of people that, until recently, were still relying on private cars.

All over the world citizens experiment together with their (local) governments on how to renegotiate responsibilities, ownership, and maintenance of public services. This workshop is intended to be the kick-off of a larger and longer project in Lebanon to create a sustainable citizen-based network or infrastructure. The workshop will be partly hands-on, working on 1) creating an (electric) bike or foot-bike and 2) working on a low-tech energy device. Apart from the practical work, there will be talks, lectures, guests teachers and discussions on how a participative society works and what are the obstacles and challenges for enabling micro-scale governance structures and system change. Is bottom-up urbanism possible?

Link to workshop and public program

Unusual City Tour: Badaoui Area

Zone 7 (highlighted in light blue) running at the eastern edge of the Beirut river, holds within its realm many contrasting landscapes. Badaoui area, just below Armenia street, exemplifies this out-of-context urban situation. Spatial inequality in dwelling conditions or accessibility to social and physical infrastructure often materialize in urban areas in cities in developing countries, affecting the quality of life of those living in these areas. To narrow the increasing gap between better-off and worse-off neighborhoods, policymakers are trying to compensate for discrepancies and target these underprivileged areas.

The specific morphology of cities, their histories, their geographical characteristics, the extent of inequality in society are just a few of the contingencies that determine the present and future of divided cities. From those contingencies emerge divisions and if not recognized, it is impossible to draw a clear roadmap for the elaboration of a sustainable planning strategy. Although the results on the ground can work out very differently for each place, it will be crucial to look at divided cities keeping in mind individual preferences, individual constraints, and opportunities.

Maps and Images by D. Aouad

Aouad Guest Critic on TU-Delft/IESR Complex Projects Studio Collaboration

Once called ‘Paris of the East’, the Lebanese capital has been devastated by a shocking blast in August 2020, leaving hundreds of fatalities and thousands of injured. Dwellings, public service, healthcare and infrastructure were left in shambles. Lebanon has already been facing its worst humanitarian, socioeconomic and financial crisis, since the 1975-1990 civil war, which has led to widespread protests for political reform in 2019. Exacerbated by the impact of sanctions and dwindling US dollar reserves, as well as the effects of the global pandemic, Lebanon’s economy has been in a free-fall. The recent explosion at the port of Beirut which has damaged almost half of the city is just further compounding the turmoil.

The explosion should be seen as an impetus for the change. Besides the immediate humanitarian relief and early recovery, the city needs to establish long-term measures to return to a path of stability and development. In collaboration with Lebanese American University and its Institute for Environmental Studies and Research, the studio will address Beirut’s multiple acute challenges, notably its protracted socio-economic crisis, the reconstruction of Beirut and the restoration of its heritage.

Read more in TU-Delft website

Beirut Urban Declaration: Conference / April 10-11

On day 1, and within the framework of the third axis: A comprehensive approach for the rehabilitation of the Destroyed Area, Aouad will be presenting his work on the Morphological and Typological study of the Karantina Region and its Relationship with Charles El Helou Highway.

The conference is organized by the Order of Engineers and Architects Beirut and the Chaderji Foundation for Architecture and Society with the support of Fondation de France, in collaboration with Faculties of Architecture in Lebanon and with the participation of many experts and academics in the field.

View the sessions recordings

View program

View DAJH-bud page

Beirut-Rotterdam: Complex Urban Recoveries

IESR was pleased to host this webinar as part of the collaboration between both TU Delft and LAU’s Institute for Environmental Studies and Research [IESR]. This webinar adressed the topics of reconstruction, urban planning, and heritage, connecting the Rotterdam experience with the current situation in Beirut. Within the framework of Complex Projects at TU Delft, and in collaboration with the Institute for Environmental Studies and Research at LAU, the master’s level studio will address Beirut’s multiple acute challenges, notably its protracted socio-economic crisis, the reconstruction of Beirut and the restoration of its heritage.

On Rotterdam: The Empty Center. Kees Kaan, Founding partner KAAN Architecten, Chair of the Department of Architecture at TU Delft

Beirut, Post-disaster City. Maroun Daccache, Chair of the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at LAU

On Beirut: The Forgotten Port. Vincent Panhuysen, Partner KAAN Architecten

On Beirut Studio: The Change. Hrvoje Smidihen, Architect at KAAN Architecten, Lecturer at TU Delft

This webinar was moderated by David Aouad

Watch the full webinar here

Aouad to Participate in UN-Habitat's National Urban Policies Programme

The rapid urbanization of landscapes across the globe has presented policymakers and planners with unprecedented challenges to address and direct the situation. Dramatic urban sprawl, informal urban production, climate change vulnerability, and inefficient infrastructure present considerable demands for the future of city planning. In the Arab region, where 56 percent of the population reside in urban settings,1 this challenge becomes all the more crucial. Recognizing the need for a coordinated and dynamic response, the NUP Programme was launched by UN-Habitat in the Arab region in 2017 to address these trends through a progressive vision. The aim of the programme is to guide the urban policy development in four selected countries in the Arab region – Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Sudan – through the promotion of sustainable, inclusive and evidence-based NUPs. The programme pilots an approach to urbanization that puts effective cross-sector policymaking at the forefront of urban development and management. It aims to increase knowledge and strengthen the capacities of policymakers and relevant stakeholders.

NUP is a substantial tool for addressing contemporary planning obstacles. It manages to capitalize on the opportunities of rapid urbanization, while accommodating for its inevitable stresses. This entails cultivating local economies and safeguarding social and basic urban services. Steering urbanization towards inclusive sustainable growth requires strengthening policy and planning capacities at regional, national and subnational levels. Through this practice, NUPs manage to empower stakeholders at every level, including members of government, field experts, academic institutions and members of civil society. As a result, NUPs have had a proven effectiveness that has qualified them as an indicator for monitoring progress towards achieving global agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA).

Aouad Guest Critic on TU-Delft/IESR Complex Projects Studio Collaboration

Once called ‘Paris of the East’, the Lebanese capital has been devastated by a shocking blast in August 2020, leaving hundreds of fatalities and thousands of injured. Dwellings, public service, healthcare and infrastructure were left in shambles. Lebanon has already been facing its worst humanitarian, socioeconomic and financial crisis, since the 1975-1990 civil war, which has led to widespread protests for political reform in 2019. Exacerbated by the impact of sanctions and dwindling US dollar reserves, as well as the effects of the global pandemic, Lebanon’s economy has been in a free-fall. The recent explosion at the port of Beirut which has damaged almost half of the city is just further compounding the turmoil.

The explosion should be seen as an impetus for the change. Besides the immediate humanitarian relief and early recovery, the city needs to establish long-term measures to return to a path of stability and development. In collaboration with Lebanese American University and its Institute for Environmental Studies and Research, the studio will address Beirut’s multiple acute challenges, notably its protracted socio-economic crisis, the reconstruction of Beirut and the restoration of its heritage.

Read more in TU-Delft website

View the Complex Projects leaflet

Beirut Urban Declaration

The Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, was a watershed event in the history of Lebanon, and the capital city Beirut. It is a catastrophe that affected the neighborhoods of Al-Mudawar, Karantina, Al-Badawi, Mar Mikhael, Rmeil, Gemayzeh, Mar Nicola, and extended to Burj Hammoud, Ashrafieh, Al Bashoura, and Zoqaq El Blat. It reached the other neighborhoods of the city, leaving behind about two hundred people deadened thousands wounded, in addition to the destruction of nearly three hundred buildings, complete or partial destruction, and the displacement of tens of thousands of residents of the area.

The Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA) in Beirut, in partnership with the Faculties of Architecture in Lebanon, took the initiative to produce the “Beirut Urban Declaration” with a general vision on ways to reform the affected areas. This declaration reviews a set of ideas that would constitute a starting point for work, to formulate an integrated vision for the reconstruction of the affected areas, as a result of the port explosion. It proposes a national vision for reconstruction, heritage rehabilitation, protection of the social fabric, and the distinguished urban identity in the affected area as a result of the tragic event, and the reformulation of the port relationship and its urban context.

The declaration is an intellectual and cultural endeavor that contributes to the formulation of a comprehensive vision, in form of ideas and proposals of the reformation of the city. It presents them as a set of documented issues that seek to meet the challenges of emptying the city from its residents and demography change, as well as providing suggestions and quick feasible, and operational ideas to the officials and official institutions concerned. The declaration outlines the course of intervention and the role that the OEA could play in cooperation with the Universities in envisioning the reformation of the affected region. It adopts a comprehensive view of social, economical, and urban aspects, and deals with the damaged area as an urban fabric fully integrated with the port. “

Beirut Urban Declaration” emphasizes on preserving the heritage urban fabric, which consists of their general fabric and the constituent units of this tissue, and as a site in which people’s life, social and economic behavior is practiced. Considering the heritage character of the affected area, determining the paths between urgent (fast), medium, and long term (slow), and establishing an observatory. Finally, the need to establish appropriate policies and a reconstruction management that has to go through devising mechanisms that guarantee wide participation of the society and specialists.

Read the full declaration here

Aouad Appointed Head of Institute for Environmental Studies & Research [IESR]

Aouad was appointed as the new director of LAU's Institute for Environmental Studies & Research [IESR]. The mission of the Institute for Environmental Studies & Research is to investigate issues of environmental nature, and the impact of such issues on the long-term sustainability of the region and its resources.

These issues include but are not limited to: the impact of urban growth, zoning and urban development on cities and suburbs, and the impact of building construction and energy use on the environment. The objectives of the Institute would be to develop studies and proposals aimed at:

Promoting sustainable practices, including land use strategies and demographic projections, specific to urban and suburban zones.

Developing studies on urban planning, transportation systems, land management, and preservation of natural areas.

Providing impact assessment for large scale projects such as industrial projects, infrastructure, and social housing.

Conducting surveys of historical areas and proposing master plans for areas in need of development and/or preservation.

Developing studies on improving energy conservation in buildings and innovative sustainable practices in building construction.

Aouad will hold its new position as of September 1st, 2020.

Read more

Aouad part of OEA's Emergency Taskforce After Beirut Blast

Aouad was invited to be part of a special taskforce run by the Order of Engineers in Beirut to come up with ideas on the methodology and priorities for intervention in the heritage neighborhoods affected by destruction in the vicinity of Beirut port. Some of those ideas proposed are:

Challenges facing surveys, damage assessments, and the future of rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Securing people's needs for housing, work, services and the return of life. Adjusting the urgent construction process to secure deserving needs so that they do not turn into randomness.

Preserving the fabric of old neighborhoods with priority is to strengthen the buildings at risk of collapse and to strengthen the damaged ones in order to restore and rehabilitate.

The compensation mechanism for the people.

Encouraging people to rebuild their homes, through general urban projects that rehabilitate a building or group.

An action is soon to be made public underlying the essence of the taskforce’s mission which comprises:

A comprehensive overview of the rehabilitation of the destroyed areas in Beirut;

The social and economic factors through which the citizen can live, learn, work and have a good quality of life;

The management and organization of the planning and rebuilding;

The preservation of the heritage.

The taskforce will be meeting weekly and one of its first achievements is that it was able to put the affected area under study until further studies.

Beirut Design Week 2018 at ACA

Join us at the Arab Center for Architecture for an exhibit and talks around different projects as part of Beirut Design Week:

June 23 @ 6pm l Launch of the exhibition entitled: Abandoned Places, Public Spaces: Heritage Preservation. The projects will show different instances such as the decaying remains of the Lebanese Coastal Railway, the houses and gardens frozen by a defunct highway project, the neglected wilderness of an endangered coastal peninsula and the disregarded fabric of the Mkalles Industrial Area, are turned into propelling elements of contemporary urban life.

June 27 @ 6pm I Talk “Plan Lumiere” by Joe Bitar [4B Architects]

“Plan Vert + Liaison Douce” by Habib Debs and Tony Kreidy [Urbi] followed by a round-table discussion moderated by Abdul Halim Jabr [Unit44]

June 29 @ 6pm I Talk
“Mkalles Industrial Area”, by Lebanese American University students, under the guidance of David Aouad

“The Lebanese Coastal Railway-Industrial Heritage” by Lebanese American University students, under the guidance of Joy Kanaan

"Heritage: Preserving the Past into the Future" by Lebanese American University students, under the guidance of Silvia Mazzetto.