“A Community Participatory Visioning for Horsh Beirut”
As part of its efforts to reclaim public access to Horsh Beirut, and in line with its advocacy campaign to protect the site from all types of infringements, NAHNOO -in conjunction with POMED (Project on Middle-East Democracy) and BEIRUTIYAT, and under the patronage of the Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA) in Beirut, and in collaboration with the Urban Planners’ Association UPA, is launching a competition to solicit alternative visions that would strengthen the role of Horsh Beirut as an inclusive public space.
Nahnoo invites you, students and professionals (architects, landscape and urban designers, planners and other related environmental and urban design disciplines) to submit proposals for research, design and planning projects to unlock the potential of Horsh Beirut as a shared inclusive public space that will generate a sustainable and pedestrian friendly neighborhood.
Find the supporting documents in the Downloads section and apply through the online form. For further details contact competition@nahnoo.org.
First prize $30002nd prize $2000
3rd prize $1000
DEADLINE REGISTRATIONMonday 09/12/2019
DEADLINE SUBMISSION
Monday 07/02/2019
Why Horsh Beirut
Located at the southern peripheries of municipal Beirut, Horsh Beirut represents the largest green public space in the city. Its area, originally extending over one million sq.m, diminished over time to a fenced isolated green triangle of 330,000sq.m, commonly known as Horsh Beirut today. The Horsh’s remaining parts are fragmented and distributed across the different surrounding urban areas. The triangular part resulted from post-war planning and related rehabilitation projects that transformed its original natural and flat design into an artificial and more complicated one with several zones and different topographic levels. However, the park remained closed to the public for thirty years and access was restricted to specific social groups until 2015 when it opened partially, following a five-year “Horsh Beirut for all” advocacy campaign led by NAHNOO. Yet, the Horsh’s development into a fully-functioning, easily accessible, and inclusive public park is today hindered by several factors: its disconnection from nearby neighborhoods through a network of high-speed roads, the absence of safe and easy pedestrian access to it, the shortage of proper equipment and urban furniture within the park, and the lack of appropriate and comprehensive strategies to protect its green area and turn it into a vibrant urban public space.
