DESIGN STUDIO VII, LAU DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, sec 33 & 34

DESIGN STUDIO VII, LAU DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, sec 33 & 34, FALL 2012

Midterm / Qualitative Analysis + Concept / Beirut Junction /Sarah Saliba - Sandra Khoury - Jason El Hajj

Have you ever felt that clashing of experiences, programs, unexpected spaces? 
Well, when one takes a walk along our Mar Mikhael site, one will not fail to notice the different nodes and connections present, and for that we emphasized on four major areas: The Port , The Charles Helou Bus Terminal, The Pedestrian Bridge next to our site and the Mar Mikhael stairs.
After analyzing their locations, surroundings and functions, we went on to further understanding and dissecting them, and abstracted their movements into an interesting play of planes and surfaces.
Further along the analysis, we noticed in the four diagrams created a hierarchy in the scale of flow and movement which became an important element within our project.
The creation of physical models based on the four diagrams, helped us in representing, in an abstract matter, the spaces dealt with and the different movements present in them.
Our project focuses on the social aspect of the Mar Mikhael residents' life, thus Beirut Junction would become an amalgamation of public and private spaces through the abstraction of existing nodes, presenting functions provided by NGO’s that would attend the people living in the immediate and further surroundings of our site.
Hence the creation of different plazas making our target groups cross paths within our project’s boundaries, through the fusion of the different areas.
The implementation of skins helps with the visual connections that would be provided between the port and Mar Mikhael, as well as a focus on the night atmosphere present throughout the streets of this area. To sum it up, our project combines the different qualities of the neighboring spaces but still relates to the ephemeral aspect of the Lebanese citizens.