Urbanism in Beirut, Lebanon today:
The relations between modern architecture and war

Introduction:
Based on the books of Robert Bevan and Lebbeus Woods  and the lecture of Bernard Khoury, an architect from Lebanon, we want to propose a project that wants to render visible the relations between modern architecture, war scars and urban environment in Beirut, a city directly connected with recent war in Lebanon.

Theme of the project:
The project consists of a photo video documentation of the recent war situation in Beirut, Lebanon, and the architecture works of modern Lebanese architects like Bernard Khoury. The images will come through a chaotic city environment and the response of the local architects to this situation. Views between constructed and deconstructed architecture, in a encouraging social interaction nature. The comparison between existing, destroyed, virtual and medial city context, will be seen in Photo-collages and small videoclips that will be made of  Òin siteÓ photo essays remixed with material from internet webblogs and fotologs of Beirut people. Selected images and videos will be later shown in Weimar and possibly in Beirut in an Exhibition.

Run of the project:
Researching in internet diarys and webblogs of the recent situation in Beirut Lebanon.
Contacting people through email and making short interviews about the city.
Travelling to Beirut, realizing video and photo essays and contacting local people.
Editing all this material together in a concept for a future exhibition. Realizing the Exhibition.

Significance:
How can we learn and understand better our modern world, without mentioning the current war conflicts and its influence in our daily life. War destroys and de-materializes urban values at the same time as media decodes the conflict as image and information. War today is a junction of technology and images that come to the most of us as medial experience. Urban places are seen as stages of glory and fear, and architecture as an integration device of this contradictory logic. Digital de-materialization and War destruction come together in Beirut while urban life has to go on. How does an architect build in a place of constant changes?

Expected production:
Video and Image Material shown first in a website, and later in a Exhibition.
Time schedule:
3-4months

Use of Funds:
Travelling expenses to Lebanon, and exhibition production.

Estimated Costs: