CORIDOR

BGC_URB502 Desing Stuido

Donors: US AID - Lebanon Reforestation Initiative

A planned and later cancelled infrastructure project, the Fouad Botrous highway led to the expropriation of many plots creating badly used, publicly owned open spaces. These plots, now create an outstanding opportunity of recognizing hidden assets in order to revive an urban landscape, a chance for the inhabitants of the city to finally have a place in Beirut to call theirs.

Ever since the highway plan's cancellation many proposals were drafted on how to transform these spaces. The most popular of these being it's transformation into an urban green corridor, providing green spaces for its adjacent neighborhoods and Beirut as a whole.

The highway footprint and the resulting residual open spaces provide a rare opportunity for a new network of public spaces in the city of Beirut. A pedestrian corridor now naturally connects the upper part of the Achrafieh hill to the lower Mar Mikhael level, thus introducing the opportunity of developing a pleasant green promenade.

The proposed preliminary landscape design of the Fouad Botrous Green Corridor foresees a reappropriationof the public open spaces resulting from the Fouad Botrous Highway project. These could be split into 4 intervention zones based on the different typologies, locations, and connecting neighborhoods through which the highway crosses.

The selection of plants takes into consideration their behaviour in the local conditions related to climate, soil structure, water consumption, maintenance requirements, and availability in the local market. The softscape plan proposes strategically placed trees and shrubs to accentuate entrances, provide shade in gathering areas, and encourage positive sensory experiences.

Previous Bridge Situation