25 June 2010

Goodbye Beirut



















Goodbye traffic and honking taxis, self prescribed driving rules and fancy cars.
Goodbye lottery ticket sellers, shoe shine boys and the random Syrian boys along the corniche
Goodbye Cafe Younis, Gloria Jeans, Auntie Selwas and Ferdinands. Later Hamra.
Goodbye Downtown and Solidare, Gemayze and Ashrefeih. Goodbye Beirut.

I will miss the call to prayer, the kak hawker and the three hour power outages.
I will miss AUB campus, the Corniche and the maze of streets in Hamra.
I will miss the Mediterranean the weather and the amazing fresh veggies and fruits.
I will, of course, miss my friends, my colleagues and the students (that didn't complain when it came to grades)

So Goodbye Middle East. Goodbye Levant. Goodbye my ancestral grounds. 

Thanks for the good times and the safety.
Thanks for the amazing people, friends and adventures.

Lets do it again sometime soon.


16 June 2010

The Final Projects


















While I only mention it briefly here within my blog, most of my time is spent in the halls of the Architecture and Design Department. This spring I taught a "vertical studio" of 3rd and 4th year students with Carla. The project was a complex one asking the students to rethink their dilapidated infrastructure by hybridizing it with the financial success of the tourism boom. Their work throughout the semester was a struggle, to think about the systems operating, the limitations, the social and economic issues and, finally, their dedication in actually representing their ideas visually.

I get asked a lot what I think of the students here - especially compared to those in the states. Its a hard question, seeing that I am a young instructor and that only being here one year doesn't make me an expert. But I have had the opportunity to work with 2nd - 5th year students and, with living here, I can make a couple of quick observations. The students are creative, their ideas, visions match those of any department I have been in, seen or read about. But (and I wonder if this is a global crisis) their dedication to the work, their passion for the completion of a project is lacking. I wonder if the adoption of the laptop as the tool for design has limited the students to ground themselves in a project with their colleagues in a studio environment. While provided a spacious environment to work in (open 24 hours) they didn't make use of the facilities and the time they had to complete the project. They are strong designers, good talkers...only they lack the energy to produce good projects.

But you can see for yourself. Below are some links to the students work this semester. They are mix of projects ranging from urban farms/energy production to zoos and methane gas capture....to water catchment and recycling spas.

The Class Wiki
Site analysis
Their final projects

I have really enjoyed the students, the studios and the department. I think I learned more than they did.

Go South...or as far as you can



















The Goal: to go as far south as possible. The Fear: to go as far south as possible. I won't go into detail on why, but just remember that time doesn't pass for long without an "event" occurring on the Lebanon - "Occupied Territories" border, and the current threat of a "build up" in the area doesn't make for a carefree expedition. (read more here on details). But I have to say I was proven wrong. Way wrong. This was my final road trip while here in Lebanon. I of course didn't do it alone.

Haitham, a Lebanese national (though many thought I looked more Leb than he did!!! (sorry!), and myself set off on a two day road trip south of the city of Beirut to explore the villages, the border region, turtle reserves, Lake Qaraoun and the dam.

First stop was Tyr and the old city. A maze of dilapidated homes that appeared to be strung together by an outdated infrastructure - the city itself still in need of investment after years of neglect. Then on to the Orange House and the Turtle Reserve. This true find is easy to get to (by car) yet as a foreigner, I had to get a special permit from the government in Saida. Once through, we were greeted by our amazing hosts and shown around the beautiful complex of gardens, plantations of bananas, goats, dogs and of course the incredibly quiet and desolate (unofficial) turtle reserve run by Mona and Habiba.There dedication to the cause of protecting some of the last stretches of beach for the annual laying of turtle eggs makes them heros in my view. We woke early at 5:30 to walk the beach with them to assist in observing and documenting the nests...unfortunately, that day the turtles didn't arrive. But they say the numbers are promising, but the funding is bleak and the threats huge. That day we had tar stuck to the bottoms of our feet. It seems a boat had dumped tar into the sea and it had washed up along the shore line...so sad.


Hitting the Beaches



















Summer comes into the Levant without even a hint of spring. With the Mediterranean coast running along its western edge, its easy to escape the concrete surfaces for some sand, beach, or just some patches of grass. As mentioned before, the concept of public space is hard to define here, and the idea of a public beach, while present, isn't celebrated like in other countries along desirable bodies of water. For the Lebanese its clubs. They line the coast from top to bottom, and whether one likes their positioning, they are nearly the only option. (there are several beaches in Beirut and outside that are claimed as "public", but they are untended, have unclean water, and mostly not family friendly).

So in the past several weeks I have been visiting several beach clubs in the north and in the south. They are as diverse in some ways as the "villages" that make up the City of Beirut. They can be as fancy as those like Eddie Sands, where one can witness the likes of the upper elite strutting around in bikinis and high heels with pounding beats provided by the resident DJ. Or you can enjoy the reggae and celebratory styles of something like Pierre's, or the similar urban party at St. Georges. I preferred south of the city, where they say the better beaches are, with the likes of Lazy B or traveling all the way to the border for some beaches around Tyre and the nature reserves. check out a list of beaches

Of course, this all seems a bit excessive, as things can be here. And there are other reasons to avoid such "recreation." as this article explores, not everyone is welcome at such clubs.

Here is a glimpse of the sand, water and skin.
and some more here..