Questioning the city and its landscapes, two narratives emerge, one exploring its history and heritage value, this leads to a recognition of the criticality of agriculture to the landscape heritage; while the second examines the current state of Beirut River, its sprawl, and the neglected agriculture and abandoned lands. The current state ironically contradicts with the heritage value. This is especially apparent at the mouth of the concrete canal below Hazmieh, near the historic Jisr el Bacha, where the dilapidated river and valley are conceived of disconnected edges, spanning the river along neglected orchards, cliff, and suburbs.
The project’s fascination with agriculture is expanded by borrowing two features and appropriating them into an architectural suburban context, the greenhouse and terracing.
Thus, the space between the suburban citizen and the river water is dissolved by terracing the river edge into an urban agriculture that hosts a cultural-research center within greenhouses. The new landscape showcases the local landscape traditions along the urban terraces.