the reconstruction of beirut
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Divided and destroyed by a 15 year conflict, Beirut has since the early 1990’s become the stage of a major urban regeneration project. Supervised and undertaken single-handedly by the private corporation SOLIDERE, the Master Plan for the reconstruction of the city centre has been both highly praised for its efficiency at re-establishing Beirut as a major business centre in the Middle East, and heavily criticised for its lack of public consultation and tabula rasa approach.
This series of photographs was taken in June 2010 and is concerned with the ongoing reconstruction of the city with particular emphasis on the areas of Beirut Central District. My approach for the imagery was to concentrate on the physical fabric of the city, capturing and gathering fragments of the fast changing facets of Beirut, in order to bring to light this transient space where imprints of Ottoman Empire, French colonialism and traumatic pasts of the Lebanese wars juxtapose in unpredicted ways with the contemporary urban design of SOLIDERE.
This series of images was produced painting liquid light on watercolour paper which was then sepia toned. By using this various techniques I hope to convey a sense of the porous and permeable aspect of contemporary Beirut - where heritage, historification, pastiche and authenticity form the habitat of Beirutis who constantly have to adjust and renegotiate their everyday environment. This approach also seeks to critically engage with the motto of the private company in charge of the reconstruction “Beirut, ancient city of the future”.
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Divided and destroyed by a 15 year conflict, Beirut has since the early 1990’s become the stage of a major urban regeneration project. Supervised and undertaken single-handedly by the private corporation SOLIDERE, the Master Plan for the reconstruction of the city centre has been both highly praised for its efficiency at re-establishing Beirut as a major business centre in the Middle East, and heavily criticised for its lack of public consultation and tabula rasa approach.
This series of photographs was taken in June 2010 and is concerned with the ongoing reconstruction of the city with particular emphasis on the areas of Beirut Central District. My approach for the imagery was to concentrate on the physical fabric of the city, capturing and gathering fragments of the fast changing facets of Beirut, in order to bring to light this transient space where imprints of Ottoman Empire, French colonialism and traumatic pasts of the Lebanese wars juxtapose in unpredicted ways with the contemporary urban design of SOLIDERE.
This series of images was produced painting liquid light on watercolour paper which was then sepia toned. By using this various techniques I hope to convey a sense of the porous and permeable aspect of contemporary Beirut - where heritage, historification, pastiche and authenticity form the habitat of Beirutis who constantly have to adjust and renegotiate their everyday environment. This approach also seeks to critically engage with the motto of the private company in charge of the reconstruction “Beirut, ancient city of the future”.