WORKSHOP 'PUBLIC SPACE? - Why does it matter so much in Lebanon?' 

The workshop 'Public space? – Why does it matter so much in Lebanon?' is initiated and organized by Studio Beirut and the Dutch organizations Archis, Partizan Publik and Pearl. The workshop will take place from August 17 till August 31 in Beirut, the North and the South of Lebanon. The workshop deals with a challenging theme in Lebanon where the structural lack of public spaces reveals the post civil war trauma and the existence of demarcation lines between different social and ethnic groups. In an attempt to define the notion of public space in Lebanon, the participants will follow the old Lebanese railway from north to south. Proposals for a (temporary) public space will be initiated for several locations in Beirut that are allocated for public space.

These potential public spaces are amongst others:  Ard Jalloul, Charles Helou bridge and surrounding lots, 800 meters of the corniche facade stretching from AUB beach to Riviera beach, parallel upper road on Ramlet el Baida and the trainstation in Mar Mikhail. After the workshop an international competition will follow to generate an executable plan for one of these potential public spaces.

During the workshop a multidisciplinary and international faculty with lecturers and critics from Lebanon, Holland, Norway and the USA will explore the concept of public space in Lebanon together with a group of 30 participants. The participants are architecture, urban design, urban planning, arts, sociology and political science students and young professionals from (different universities in) Lebanon, Germany, Holland, Swiss, USA, Slovenia, Aruba, Egypt and Russia.

PUBLIC EVENTS
The opening debate at August 18 at 10 a.m. and the final debate with Pearls in Lebanon (moderated by Ole Bouman, director of the Dutch Architectural Institute) at August 31 at 4 p.m. at the Order of Engineers and Architects will be attended by amongst others the president of the municipality of Beirut, Abed El Mounim Al Ariss. During this event the special issue of VOLUME MAGAZINE #12 Unbuilt will be officially launched. The issue contains a dossier on Lebanon and the first issue of NOISE published from Studio Beirut. These events and the celebration in Studio Beirut (Rue Gouraud, purple house with red windows, first floor, facing Patisserie Kassab, Gemmayze, Beirut) August 31 at 9 p.m. are open to the public.

End of press release
See programme at www.pearl-foundation.com or download it at www.studiobeirut.org. For more information please contact Studio Beirut at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

For more information about Archis, Partizan Publik and Pearl see:

www.archis.org

www.partizanpublik.nl

www.pearl-foundation.com