Housing is the raw material of the city as a form and as a program that translates the different ways of life. In this studio we propose to approach the elementary theme of the housing and the city.

City
How to answer to the question: “What does the contemporary Beirut look like?” Looking out the window we can see an urban highway, cars on multiple-lanes, vacant lots transformed into parking lots in dense neighborhoods, ubiquitous construction sites, historic monuments juxtaposed with glass buildings, satellite dishes and water tanks on rooftops, pipes on facades, colored exterior curtains in front of balconies.

Housing
Housing is the main element of the urban substance. It is the program where the life and its needs and variations are manifested. Therefore it is a dynamic and organic matter in permanent transformation and adaptation by the inhabitants.
On the other hand, the apartment plan has reached a threshold of evolution with a generic functional typology of collective housing. In this studio we want to explore new possible typological transformations of apartment plan.
The architectural research will be based on real life, personal experience and the city around us but also on a scientific exploration of housing typologies from different historical periods and on key theoretical texts on the subject.

The task here is to design an apartment building located on a real street in Beirut as well as to draw up highly detailed plans for an apartment.
We expect students to bring the most personal experience. They have to invest not only their ideas but also their dreams and their desires.