ARCHMARATHON 2015 Beirut

ARCHMARATHON 2015 Beirut http://www.archmarathon.com/

For the period of three amazingly fast paced days, full of good energy and futuristic optimism, an architectural marathon took place at the coastal cultural hub City of Beirut... 

October 2015, a month dedicated by the UN agency, the UN-Habitat for the celebration of #Cities worldwide namely #UrbanOctober. A celebration asserting on the quality of our livable cities, its challenges, ... and shared common spaces, how to improve and advance better healthy lives at them. The topic in itself can be described by professionals as one of the most debatable topics around the globe, as there are many conferences held about it in the past, present and certainly many more to come in the future.



42 Mediterranean based design studios were selected to showcase their most built architectural design projects within the period of the last five years. each architect and design studio had a time of nearly 20 minutes to represent their work, describe the project's details, urban constraints, challenges and its lively overall context.

so for the days of the October 8th, 9th and 10th a general public review took place in order to select a winning design project for each specified category established by the organizers. 
This public review was held in a rather open transparent jury Style, where remarks, suggestions, praises and encouragements were conducted by each member of the Mediterranean jury member in the most positive manner possible, so an atmosphere of win-win situation was happening...

To me personally as an observer I felt highly included within the decision-making process of the jury and enlightened by different views on architectural, building design and construction processes.
Coming from Syria with a fairly good recent distant from the profession, this rapid style of organisation and presentation was one of the best remedies for all these long years of Conflict and war news. 
One of the amazing outcomes of the ARCHMARATHON was that famous and practicing architects were part of the participants, close to the public, an easier interaction and networking can occur, which is not the norm in the MENA region or the Arab-World...
Finally, I wish all Syrians and war-torn nations a fast recovery of bloody crisis and even a faster come-backs to their normal lives and once occupied professions...


The Winning Projects

kindly check at http://www.archmarathon.com/

EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF GUELMIM
SAAD EL KABBAJ – DRISS KETTANI – MOHAMED AMINE SIANA ARCHITECTS
http://www.archmarathon.com/technology-school-of-guelmim/

ARTS & CULTURE WINNER

ÍLHAVO MARITIME MUSEUM EXTENSION

ARX PORTUGAL

http://www.archmarathon.com/ilhavo-maritime-museum-extension/

OVERALL WINNER

NATURAL PARK HEADQUARTERS
OTO ARQUITECTOS

http://www.archmarathon.com/natural-park-headquarter/

LANDSCAPE AND PUBLIC SPACES
TAGUS LINEAR PARK
TOPIARIS
http://www.archmarathon.com/tagus-linear-park/

MIXED TENURE HOUSING AND BUILDINGS WINNER

POPULAR HOUSING
GAMBARDELLARCHITETTI
http://www.archmarathon.com/popular-housing/

HOTEL & LEISURE WINNER
IXSIR WINERY
RAËD ABILLAMA ARCHITECTS
http://www.archmarathon.com/ixsir-winery/

CROWD WINNER
REDEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW WATERFRONT IN THESSALONIKI
NIKIFORIDIS-CUOMO ARCHITECTS
http://www.archmarathon.com/redevelopment-of-the-new-waterfront-in-thessaloniki/

WORKSPACES

OPEN AIR OFFICE
ANTONAS OFFICE
http://www.archmarathon.com/open-air-office/
  
RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS
SANCAKLAR MOSQUE
EAA – EMRE AROLAT ARCHITECTS
http://www.archmarathon.com/sancaklar-mosque/

PRIVATE HOUSING
CASA G
FRANCESCO LIBRIZZI STUDIO
http://www.archmarathon.com/casa-g/

TRANSPORT
RING-ROAD
MODUS ARCHITECTS

http://www.archmarathon.com/ring-road/  



To read more about the event 
http://www.archmarathon.com/#

Speech Videos 
http://www.archmarathon.com/speech-2015/

Photos of the event
http://www.archmarathon.com/photos-2015/

to connect with ARCHMARATHON kindly check
http://www.archmarathon.com/#
TW https://twitter.com/archmarathon
UTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjvjWBavwehNyKyt7ZQCOg

PEACE & PROSPERITY 

Urban October Damas

DAMAS. October 15 #UrbanOctober, #Citiesday, #Damascus, #DamasceneSpaces, #public, #space, #MEDITERRANEAN, #city, #cities, #outdoors, #Green, #Historical, #places, #spaces, #stone, #Urbanisation, #Urban #design, #Danger, #Damas, #zoning

A photo posted by Woroud (@woroud.architect) on Oct 30, 2015 at 2:01pm PDT

Image Damas 2015

"...........Damascus' Roman map remains imprinted on the city's plan. With the introduction of Christianity in the Byzantine era, Damascus became an important center where the Christians and the Bishop of Damascus were perceived as second in rank of religious importance only to the Patriarch of Antioch. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395 AD, Syria joined the eastern province of the Byzantine Empire. It maintained a strategic link between Anatolia and Egypt, the two most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire.

Architecturally, additions to the city did not occur on a grand urban scale, but rather through the insertion of religious structures into existing sites. The Temple of Jupiter was transformed into the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The Church of the Musallaba was situated inside the city walls between Bab al-Sharqi and Bab Touma on the site of the house of Ananias. Other Christian additions include the Church of al-Maqsallat near the middle of the Street Called Straight, the Church of Saint Mary along the same main access, and the Church of Saint Paul near the current Suq al-Khayatin.

In 635 AD Damascus began its transformation into a Muslim city, the first political center of the Muslim people. That year, the city was taken over by Islamic armies who had traveled north from the Arabian Peninsula. A strong majority under Roman control welcomed the Muslim armies and the city saw mass-conversions to Islam, which strengthened the Muslim military power. As Damascus shifted from its western focus to an eastern one, it faced severe opposition from the Romans.

At the center of the rapidly expanding Islamic Empire-even if only for a brief 100 years-this position was crucial to Damascus' development. Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan made Damascus the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.  Although the dynasty lasted for less than a hundred years, it had a great impact on the cultural and artistic heritage of the city. Adding yet another layer to Damascus's multi-textured urban and architectural fabric, the lasting Islamic symbol, the Umayyad Mosque was built above the remains of the Roman temple of Jupiter. The site had already seen the Aramaic temple and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The mosque embodies the architectural influences of former empires (Aramaic, Roman, Byzantine) while suggesting a model for a mosque typology that would develop in the following centuries. As a physical monument acknowledging the strength and power of the growing Islamic Empire, the mosque served not only as an important religious center but also as a political, social and scientific gathering point for leaders, scholars and visitors from all the surrounding regions.

The capital of the Islamic Empire was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad in 750 under the newly formed Abbasid dynasty.  This shift left Damascus as a provincial town with a declining population. Political rivalries between the Abbasids and Umayyads left physical scars and damage as a result of assaults, raids and attacks. Defense towers, palaces and public buildings (including the Umayyad mosque) suffered the most. Later in the Abbasid period Damascus assumed a new role as a place of leisure, leading to the building of palaces in the area. An Abbasid approaches to rule affected the city's fragmentation. Quarters became isolated and self-contained, each one developing independent markets, mosques and institutions for security reasons. The historian Ibn Asakir counted more than 242 mosques within the city walls in the 12th century, which is a direct effect of this fragmentation

The Seljuk and Ayyubid periods beginning in the late eleventh century triggered Damascus to regain stability. During the reign of Nur al-Din (1154-1174), large-scale restoration projects throughout the city were initiated. The city walls were repaired and fortified with new defense towers. City gates were rebuilt and new ones were added such as Bab al-Salaam and Bab al-Faraj. Nur al-Din also founded many institutions across the city that were important in stitching the community back together through central public buildings like the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din, the Madrasa of Nur al-Din, and Dar al-Adl (Hall of Justice). Major urban shifts in the Ayyubid period, with large expansions outside the city walls and the development of al-Salihiyya on the slope of Mount Qasyun and Hikr al-Summaq to the west of the city, can be mapped by tracing the Ayyubid madrasas and mosques in each area. Some of these Ayyubid monuments include al-Madrasa al-Murshidiyya, al-Rukniyya and al-Badra'iyya.

Timurid armies invaded Damascus in 1400 slaughtering hundreds of Damascenes and destroying many of the city's buildings.  After the Timurids departure from the ruins of Damascus, the Mamluks took control of the city. The Mamluk period was one of reconstruction. Ayyubid monuments were restored and Mamluk additions were constructed. Dar al-Adl was restored and readapted as Dar al-Saada, the governor's residence. Mamluk buildings in Damascus include the Mausoleum of Baybars, the Tankiz mosque, Hisham mosque and the Madrasa al-Jaqmaqiyya. The Mamluk period also witnessed the expansion of the pre-existing, Ayyubid extensions so that the areas were linked together forming a greater Damascus outside the old city's walls.

In 1516 Damascus was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire that would rule the city for four centuries.  Political stability and the city's increased importance created an atmosphere of architectural resurgence. Most of the prominent Ottoman additions are complexes built outside the old city walls. The first was in al-Salihiyya around the tomb of Sheikh Muhi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi that included a mausoleum and a takkiya. Another Ottoman complex is the Darwishiyya built in 1574 that included a mosque, a madrasa, a mausoleum and a water fountain. In addition to the religious additions of mosques and madrasas, the Ottoman era established commercial building types in the forms of the suq and khan. These suqs and khans served the flow of travelers passing through the Ottoman regions especially during pilgrimage season. Some commercial Ottoman buildings include Khan al-Jawkhiyya, Suq al-Harir (Khan al-Harir and Hammam al-Qishani) and Suq Midhat Basha.

The 18th century saw projects by the Azm family who governed Damascus for nearly a century take on great significance. The Azm family was responsible for projects that encompassed commercial buildings (Khan Asaad Basha and Suq al-Jadid the western wing of Suq al-Hamidiyya), governmental buildings (Hall of Justice) and residential architecture (Azm Palace).

Damascus' urban fabric in the 19th century began to evolve as the suburbs connected to absorb the growing population and the old city walls and defense systems ceased to have any military importance. The 19th century also witnessed a change in architectural style as European influences appeared in the buildings of 'modern' Damascus. For example the Hamidiyya barracks (currently part of the Damascus University campus), the old Republican Palace in al-Muhajirin, the National Hospital and Dar al-Mu'alimin (the House of Educators). Other late Ottoman interventions included building channels to supply the city with fresh spring water and linking Damascus to its neighboring regions (Beirut and al-Hijaz) by railroad transportation. New streets were built throughout the city to connect different suburbs and accommodate new tramlines that linked the quarters.

Modernizing interventions continued under the French Mandate that began in 1920. Urban development, in tandem with the destruction of parts of the city during revolts against the colonialist occupation characterized the first half of the twentieth century. After Syria regained its independence in 1946, Damascus quickly transformed into the country's modern capital city.............................."

Image Damas 2015

text Copied of http://archnet.org/sites/8225/publications/9969#item_description

http://archnet.org/sites/8225/publications/9969

CITATION

Danger, Paul, and Michel Écochard. Damas (Syrie): Dossier du plan d'amènagement et d'extension. Esquisse de la Ghouta. Damascus: Service des Travaux Publics, 1936

1936 Development Plan for Damascus
Damascus

Michel Écochard (author)

Cabinet Danger (author)

#Damascus #PublicSpaces #Outdoors #Dailylife #Damascene #Historic #Buildings #Nature #Green #Design #Modernity #Urbanisation #Urban #Design #Planning #Spatialquality #Peacemaking #Community #UrbanOctober #Citiesday #October31

A photo posted by Woroud (@woroud.architect) on Oct 23, 2015 at 10:25am PDT

Urban October Beirut

.....some urban observations of Beirut for Urban_October 2015

The amazing AUB tree... #BEIRUT #AUB #TREE #GreenLebanon #GreenMENA #MENA #Civic #Community #Beautiful #City #Surprise #CityWalk #UrbanOctober, #Citiesday, #Urbandesign, #treehugger

A photo posted by Woroud (@woroud.architect) on Oct 12, 2015 at 11:05pm PDT

...While Brilliant Beirut was curated at Dubai Design Week 

" as a chronological journey, the exhibition was a showcase of the city’s most prominent design and architecture achievements, illustrating all the important milestones of the city’s design history. The visitor's journey (which was staged as a series of long boulevard-like corridors) began in the flourishing 1950s, when the Hotel Carlton (1957) and the Pan-American Building (1953) rose to dominate Beirut’s skyline and the Cinema al-Hamra was constructed on Hamra Street (1958); also the same time when Lebanon’s first group of architects such asGeorge Rais, Assem Salam, Khalil Khoury and Karol Schayer emerged. Moving forward to the maturing era of the1960s, which came hand-in-hand with an economic boom and the formation of new companies, the first “starchitects” such as the Finnish Alvar Aalto and Polish Karol Schayer arrived in the city."

>>> read more at 

https://www.yatzer.com/brilliant-beirut-rana-salam#