The Beirut municipality and the Inspireli Awards have announced a competition calling on architecture students from around the world to submit entries for a new Port of Beirut, following the devastating 2020 explosion that completely destroyed the port and the adjacent part of the city.
The aim of the competition is to offer humanitarian aid to Beirut through the unique designs and innovations of students’ submissions. The subject of this massive renewal project will be implemented in the curriculum of many universities around the world throughout the upcoming winter and spring semesters, with a final submission date in February 2022.
The new Port of Beirut will be rebuilt and financed by Lebanon’s Finance, Design, Built, Operate, and Transfer Department (F.D.B.O.T). The Port administration and the Ministry of Public Work and Transportation are currently setting their requirements and conditions list, which will shape the approach of the entries and, subsequently, the future of the port. So far, the requirements are very open-ended with minimal limits set, allowing for immense freedom of expression. The only request from competition authorities is that the crucial transport clusters of the port should be kept unchanged.
The winners of the competition will have the opportunity to be a part of the team working with the Lebanese authorities when shaping the final looks of the port. There will be two first-place awards, a Lebanese winner and an international winner. This will be followed by second and third place winners, and then twenty special mentions. Winning projects will work under the F.D.B.O.T in reconstructing the port and will receive financial prizes, certificates, and international mentions from the biggest architectural platforms in the world.
As stated in the competition brief, “the blast caused huge destruction leaving the conventional cargo/free zone terminal, passenger terminal, and empty containers inoperative. nonetheless, the container area is still partially functioning with half of the c-cranes shattered in addition to the internally destroyed administration area. as mentioned before, it is not necessarily compulsory to keep the zoning on its previous configuration; yet, the port needs to operate appropriately with the minimum exploitation possible of the land, and by doing so, more room for economic and social possibilities for investment can be clutched.”
The Port of Beirut renewal competition is now accepting submissions, with registrations concluding on February 22, 2022. More information regarding the competition can be seen here.
5 Comments
"Never let a horrible disaster go to waste." - Jesus
Given that its the Lebanese government that's running the competition, I'd say its better than those hacks who slap on an attention grabbing headline on a rubbish render and send it off to Dezeen right after a major disaster. Like this one: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/01/11/capitol-castle-fortress-opposite-office/
I think you missed the sarcasm in that proposal.
You can bet that all the big firms have been lobbying like crazy to get a foot in the door here, and for that reason alone I'm happy to see a global student competition. The process seems quite well thoguht out.
If Bjarke gets involved, it could end up like this, a BIG 12 Billion$ impossible project - we can't build this. Lebanon needs realistic proposals
https://oaklandside.org/2021/0...
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