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Beirut River: Portrait + Injection
Led by the Urbanists & Environmentalists Working Group [with the support of FNF Lebanon]
Today's generation has come to terms with the world's reality that the promises of reform that were made by the older generations have often fell flat. Lebanon is no exception and that's because ethnic and sociopolitical loyalties remain entrenched. This reality inspired Studio Madane’s project, The Beirut River: Portrait & Injection, which sought to explore whether the promised reform, if offered by a political alternative that could get work done, would influence people's political affiliations and decision-making.
Focused on the radius spanning Karantina, Bourj Hammoud, and the Beirut River, this project built upon the groundwork laid by Urban Injections, by the Urbanists & Environmentalists Working Group. For the first time, this project marked the intersection of Studio Madane’s diverse working groups, demonstrating the power of multidisciplinary collaboration to tackle Lebanon’s intertwined socio-political and urban challenges. Through mapping, stakeholder communication, ethnographic audiovisual documentation, field experiments, architectural design, surveying and participation, and other actions, the project was an evidence-based research and solution design initiative.
The ‘portrait’ phase captured the realities of life along the Beirut River, and the ‘injection’ phase proposed reform solutions, both digital and physical, that could be adapted and scaled. Can these ‘injections’ of reform disrupt long-standing cycles of stagnation and reshape political loyalties?
Sustainable Communities, Innovation of Industry, Reduced Inequalities, and Partnerships for Development.
The Program
A. The Portrait:
- Workflow by the Creative System Operators
- Ji[Daruna] Part 1
- Sociopolitical Docuseries
B. The Injection:
- The Urban Injection
-
Ji[Daruna] Part 2
- The Urban Injections Exhibition
Research Question
Does reform, especially when introduced by a political alternative, have the potential to shift people’s political decision-making?
Project Narrative
The inquiry is particularly pressing in Lebanon, where the political class has remained unchanged for over 30 years [Dr Lina Khatib, Lebanon's Politics and Politicians], leading to deteriorating living conditions. Despite this, loyalty to the same leaders persists, fueled by promises of change that rarely materialize. The area of focus, the Karantina, Bourj Hammoud, and Beirut River radius, is a microcosm of Lebanon’s complexities. It reflects the country’s socio-political, ethnic, and economic diversity, as well as its environmental challenges [Harake, Nabaa Neighborhood Profile, Bourj Hammoud, Beirut]. This diversity made it an ideal ground for multidisciplinary research.
1. Our Workflow
The project was executed through the combined efforts of five Studio Madane working groups:
- Urbanists & Environmentalists: Architects focused on mapping, analyzing urban informalities and environmental concerns, and designing the physical solution in the public space;
- Citizen Scientists: Geographers and workers from the area joined Studio Madane to ensure the proper engagement with local residents and documentation of insights;
- Artists & Laborers: Photogtaphers and designers interpreted the phyiscal reality through mapping and writing, and explored the role of workers’, migrants’, and residents’ behavior in the city.
- Documenters & Visual Creators: Filmers captured the socio-political realities and project outcomes through audio, film, and multimedia presentations.
- Creative System Operators: Managers and logisticians ensured that the process is operating, results are documented, and external communication is underway.
An English multimedia presentation and Arabic multimedia presentation were synthesized for broader accessibility. The proposals were shared with our focus group of local residents to demonstrate the project’s commitment to ownership and to gather feedback.
Through photographic surveys, the project documented how residents use barriers, both physical and symbolic, to define their living spaces. Nearly 100% of the photos revealed barriers invading public spaces, with 50% obstructing sidewalks. Informal, immovable installations accounted for more than half of these barriers.
One resident’s testimony captured the underlying fear in one of the audio albums[“I Can't Imagine Change” (0:50 - 1:33)]: “...by attempting to fix anything, we pose a threat to the dominant [political] parties...” This sentiment reflects the deeply rooted challenges of initiating change in a system where political affiliations are tied to survival and societal positioning.
The area itself tells a story of decay and resilience. Karantina, once an economic hub, is now isolated and lacks the infrastructure to recover from disasters like the August 4th explosion. Bourj Hammoud grapples with ethnic tensions and clashes between locals and immigrants.
The Beirut River remains a neglected wound, trapping residents in cycles of love for their birthplace and frustration at its stagnation. ‘Organized Entropy’ aims to convey the intersections of these realities.
Cries from the streets, alongside pulled knowledge from interviews, are compiled into written testimonies and audio albums, creating narratives for sociopolitical advocacy. The social impact aspect of the audiovisuals aim to inform documentation approaches to the problems either from experts or from the residents themselves.
1. The Urban Injection
Physical Solution for Accessbility in Urban Spaces: Analysis revealed that over 50% of urban informalities had positive aspects, such as creating communal spaces, planting greenery, and improving walkability. These insights informed architectural drawings that propose improvements in public urban spaces that enhance these benefits while addressing challenges.
2. Ji[Daruna] Part 2
Digital Solution for Active Citizenship & Accountability: A geolocation-based platform that allows municipalities to monitor and address urban informalities in real time. The concept was tested by photographic reports on Maps. This participatory governance tool draws inspiration from municipal systems in Catalonia, Spain, where civil protection agencies encourage community involvement in urban management [La protecció civil municipal a SITMUN].
The project’s findings sparked important conversations about the relationship between public reforms and people’s political choice. Many locals expressed skepticism, arguing that said entrenched affiliations and belief systems would not be easily swayed, even by tangible improvements.
Others highlighted the ways in which the current system benefits individuals, creating lifelines that tie them to the status quo. This duality, of frustration with the present and exploitation of its conditions, underscores the complexities of achieving meaningful change.
While the proposed reforms offer a glimpse of what is possible, they also reveal the need for long-term cultural shifts to dismantle the barriers to progress, as also seen in our short video ‘Lebanese Clientelism.’
Studio Madane decided to share this body of work with the public via a multimedia exhibition. The exhibition served as a catalysed meaningful discussions among visitors about the future of neighborhoods and the role of civic empowerment for political transformation.
An interactive panel discussion accompanied this exhibition and it was conducted by Nader Akoum, Nahida Khalil, and Charbel Chaaya.
“The direction in which projects should start to head, and this is beginning to reflect in Studio Madane’s work, is that of citizenship empowerment… and the return of ownership in the city,” emphasized panelist Nahida Khalil. After Nader Akoum had disclosed the answer to the project’s research question, Charbel Chaaya expanded that: “residents must mobilize themselves and take stances regarding the needs that they are deprived of… when political parties are held accountable for their stances, or the lack of, pressure will be exerted and change starts to manifest….”