This seminar explored some of the spatial practices that emerged in Beirut in the aftermath of the 2019 protests and the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion. Drawing on original research undertaken by the Athar Collective, the presentation discussed different types of practice developed after the blast, including urgent relief practices in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, practices developed to promote longer-term care in the community, and practices whose twin objective is to preserve the memory of the tragedy and facilitate conversations about a more just future. The argument demonstrated how these practices come together to create a complex patchwork of resilience, mobilisation and protest, which can provide inspiration to other communities across the world.
Speakers
Athar is a research practice collective set up by Aude Azzi and Dr Frederik Weissenborn. Aude is an architect, tutor and researcher and has been working at Stiff and Trevillion Architects since 2019. Fred is a researcher whose research explores the relationship between built form and urban social justice. Together, Aude and Fred have taught at various built environment and design faculties in the UK and USA, including the AA, the Bartlett, BCU, CSM, London Met, LSA, Glasgow School of Art, and GSAPP. The research project featured in this seminar has benefited from the support of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects)
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Chair
Hosn Houssami is a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar at London Metropolitan University researching emergent mapping methodologies, Urban Imaginaries, and their architectural applications in the context of Beirut, Lebanon. Her PhD aims to explore how cartographic techniques and participatory practices can be adapted to prioritise the consideration of children’s spaces and the role of a child in city development. This research follows on from her Master's level studies with ARCSR: Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources, during which she contributed to the Lines through the City. She was also the LMU nominee for the AJ Sustainability Student Prize for her project Feast on Samba (2020) based in Christchurch, Freetown: a proposal looking to establish informal pathways as socially flourishing formalised places of commerce run by local women.
Image: An image of a devasted building surrounded by water, shipping containers, a cargo ship and nature.
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