Naameh, Beirut, LB
Eftihia Bourdakou, Ioanna Chatzifotiou
Naameh is a Lebanese coastal town located in Chouf district, between Douha and Damour. A special attribute of the area is that the coastline changes very frequently and in a peculiar way over the past years, triggering an altitudinal difference between the coast and the town. Although the use of the main coast is unknown, few public beaches and resorts are spotted on the site. This coastal site, also a northern suburb of the city of Naameh, is compared to a poverty stricken neighbourhood in southern Naameh which has been characterized as vulnerable by UN-Habitat and UNICEF. It is known for the lack of basic services such as electricity and water. The village is also the site of a landfill, where more than half the waste produced by the capital Beirut and the area of Mount Lebanon were thrown over the years. Although some citizens could move to sea suburbs seeking new accommodation, the majority couldn’t afford it and continued to live under unhealthy conditions.
It is impressive how intense the changes between two neighboring areas of the same city are.
How is the equivalence of goods and services achieved?
By using empty spaces or taking advantage of existing ones?
Eftihia Bourdakou, Ioanna Chatzifotiou
Naameh is a Lebanese coastal town located in Chouf district, between Douha and Damour. A special attribute of the area is that the coastline changes very frequently and in a peculiar way over the past years, triggering an altitudinal difference between the coast and the town. Although the use of the main coast is unknown, few public beaches and resorts are spotted on the site. This coastal site, also a northern suburb of the city of Naameh, is compared to a poverty stricken neighbourhood in southern Naameh which has been characterized as vulnerable by UN-Habitat and UNICEF. It is known for the lack of basic services such as electricity and water. The village is also the site of a landfill, where more than half the waste produced by the capital Beirut and the area of Mount Lebanon were thrown over the years. Although some citizens could move to sea suburbs seeking new accommodation, the majority couldn’t afford it and continued to live under unhealthy conditions.
It is impressive how intense the changes between two neighboring areas of the same city are.
How is the equivalence of goods and services achieved?
By using empty spaces or taking advantage of existing ones?
Gridiron
Combing the loose demographics of Naameh and lacking neighboring, the creation of a new housing condition occured. Gridiron is a yellow metal structure which referes to the unstructured housing through a grid structure. Starting from a common square complex at a key point of the site, the project extends by 600m up to the ring road. It is developed in three levels, two common spaces - for communication, leisure, promotion of the local market and activities - and one for housing. This creates a new industrial ecosystem, a place for living, working and entertainmenting within the existing 3 levels of grid. Gridiron presents a systematic effort to demonstrate the utopian dimension of living in Naameh.
