The Interrupting Bridge “Addressing the disconnection of Beirut Central District from 'Beirut' City”.

Area of Study: Ashrafieh | Sioufi | Karm El zeitoun

The study of Ashrafiyeh, Sioufi, and Karm el zeitoun starts from the periphery of Beirut City Centre toward the municipality limit of Beirut.

The research and analysis discussed tackle critical observations of these three areas in relation to Downtown Beirut. These areas share similar geographical scale and they are situated in an opposite direction in relation to the boulevard Fouad Chehab and Tabaris.

The research topics discussed are the following:

- Historical Studies | Urban Growth and Modes of Expansion

- City Expansion through layers.

- Main axis and its relations. (Relation to building, to infrastructure, to functions, to scale).

- Geomorphological realtions of Karm el zeitoun and the Grand sarail.

- Topography in relation to infrastructure - Invisible connections of the city.

- The connection and disconnection points of Boulevard Fouad Chehab.

- Functions along the two areas and what is missing.

The analysis leads to specify the area of intervention and the function of the project which is the missing connection between these two areas.

The area of intervention is on the periphery of Beirut city centre, Starting from Bourj Al Ghazal all the way to the under the bridge area, which is the limit of Beirut Central District.

The project's program is Local Industrial Centre. It creates a main underground connection starting all the way from under the bridge connection to downtown and to Saint Joseph street creating relation to the function of the project through vertical circulation.

The project aims to strengthen the socio-economic position of this area. The project should bridge a current gap between the different social classes though an economical intervention. These local industries are divided into three categories: fabric industry, handicraft industry, food industry. The workshops and exhibition spaces are connected through different platforms which have different functions, some are permanent and some are temporary along the facade of boulevard Fouad Chehab.