Karantina, a place scarred by exception and crisis offers a setting rich in
temporalities and encourages the exploration of an architecture that preserves a
community in a place whose identity is not rooted in its place but rather in its time,
in its states of exception. An industrial neighborhood, littered with blind spots and
vertical boundaries, became an island within the city and confined its citizens to
humble pockets of collective engagement. The proposal of the social development
center targets the most susceptible in times of exception: citizens of irregular
occupation and exploits an inactive plot that has a tremendous impact on the
image of the neighborhood. Times of exception have taught the Lebanese to count
on each other for aid. This project provides a place by the people for the collective
to manifest and endure all while breaking existing boundaries and encouraging
interaction and engagement with the island.