HEALTHY PLANET

Sustainable building design through passive measures

Soft mobility is our main target. SIMA-SN pitches into existing (albeit informal) networks of mobility, and maximizes their impact through simple interventions in strategically chosen locations. Pedestrianization reduces the need for private car ownership, reducing the carbon emissions at a city scale. As for our furniture and bus shelters design, we adopted modularity and upcycling; mundane Jersey Barriers, usually used as traffic controlling elements, were reused as a structural basis for our urban furniture designs. They were complemented with locally sourced recycled plastic modules to offer a plethora of possibilities and readaptation depending on public use. We are proposing a reframing of urban mobility in Beirut and its suburbs.

Efficient construction and operations

From the early phases of the project we opted to take into consideration the sourcing and operational modalities of our design processes. Following our initial survey and data collection phase, we implemented a thematic categorization of our work; actions were distributed into three groups: streetscape upgrades, tactical interventions and operational framework. This holistic approach gave us a general understanding of the processes at play during the execution of our proposed works. Moreover 95% of materials used in SIMA-SN are locally sourced. Our operational frameworks were designed to enable the various local authorities i.e the municipalities to ensure an open but secure access to residents to all public spaces.

Landscape & Biodiversity Integration

Beirut has two major public spaces heavily used by the residents: the Seafront Corniche and the Horsh Beirut public park. Our vegetation strategies revolved around these two assets of the city. The historical Damascus Road (DR) connects Horsh Beirut to the Beirut Central District through a flat road situated between the city's hills; we've opted to greenify the connection by integrating heavy duty local trees (Grevillea Robusta, Jacaranda Mimosifolia and Brachychiton Populneus) to the existing canopy. We strategically proposed our trees, seeking minor irrigation maintenance, and generous shading for a better pedestrian experience. BC on the other hand completes the soft mobility loop around the city connecting to both ends of the seafront

Land use & Transformation

Car centric policies have always been the norm when it comes to public domain management in the city of Beirut and its suburbs. SIMA-SN paves the way for an urban paradigm shift where pedestrians reclaim the public domain. Street networks are not only means of mobility they are public spaces of social interaction. Another major contribution of the project is the design of a modular system of urban furniture that puts compactness and adaptability in the forefront, enabling an ever-changing usage to be implemented according to the needs of commuters and residents.

THRIVING COMMUNITIES

Participatory Design

Tactical urbanism is a bottom up approach that relies on community driven projects to revitalize street life while improving pedestrian mobility. It is the cornerstone of participatory urbanism. This principle is used to respond to the various sub-problematics of the project. Following this approach, the modularity of our design enables future community readaptation of the interventions. Meanwhile, stakeholders were consulted throughout the design process via various meetings with residents, shop-owners and policymakers. Local crafts and artistries are also integrated into the designed urban landscape through street art, performances, flea markets, and cultural fairs, all aimed at reclaiming sidewalks as public spaces.

Community Impact and Resilience

SIMA-SN focuses on the pedestrian as a social category, one that is inherently intermodal. Where cars are used by the few, soft mobility serves the many, and reintegrate them in the public sphere. In all sections, streetscape upgrades are replicated, through sidewalk repair and enlargement. Raised intersections, PWD ramps, pedestrian crossings and benches are introduced. A shared bus lane is implemented on the Beirut Corniche; the outer ring that links the urban poor in the southern and eastern suburbs to the economic heart of the city. BC also includes a soft mobility lane. While on the Cola Roundabout, one of Beirut’s major transit hubs, a public garden is designed to host commuters and pedestrians.

VIABLE ECONOMICS

Financial Feasibility

Finance management is a crucial part of the organizing of our methods of work, we were presented with a relatively modest capital to be distributed on a vast network of streets in the capital Beirut and Bourj Hammoud. From this challenge arose an opportunity with regards to methodology, we focused on minute surveying and data collection in the first phase of the project to pin-point high impact locations where modest resources would yield the highest impact. The obstacle of funding guided SIMA-SN through a process of flexibility that could be re-used in future endeavors.

UPLIFTING PLACES

Aesthetic Qualities and Cultural Integration

Our project offers acupuncture interventions in the urban landscape of Beirut and Bourj Hammoud. We made sure to blend our proposed streetscape within the existing conditions of the public domain; parklets, street art and urban furniture were given a striking color range to further highlight the intervention and add to the joviality of the urban environment. Section 1 - Underside of the Yerevan Flyover (YF) - is a prime example of this approach, a heavy yet colorful concrete car infrastructure splitting the eastern suburb of Bourj Hammoud is transformed into a festive meeting line where sports facilities and pedestrian-friendly nodes rearrange the public space to serve the pedestrian residents.