Post Disaster Regeneration: The case of Beirut
Regeneration in biology is to grow again after loss or damage (Oxford Dictionary of English). To regenerate a city is to create it again. After major disasters, either natural or man-made, cities are left with tons of rubbles and debris. The interventions carried out after such events are often a rapid response to provide immediate sheltering to those affected (Safar, 2021). In the case of the August 4th Beirut blast in 2020, that reduced the city to rubbles, 800,000 tons of debris were reported by the Ministry of Environment where only 40% were disposed of (Ramadan, 2021); while some of the rubbles were dumped into landfills, the rest has piled up over the already existing rubbish crisis in Lebanon, thus damaging multiple ecologies. Some damages were too severe for interventions like the total collapse of buildings, yet, some were moderate and had received basic repairs. This thesis project will propose to upcycle part of the waste, therefore reducing the environmental damages and pollution it generates. The collected waste will then be used to restore a building that has no specific identify, while having an environmental approach to the building and its damaged context and microclimate. The collection of material will be repurposed by combining materials with similar properties and creating panels that will be placed on the building in various locations depending on its respective function. This type of retrofit and stitching new components, will develop a new environmental identity to the building, while also reducing carbon emissions and creating a circular economy
Keywords: Disaster, Regeneration, Waste, Rubbles, Restoration, Environmental.
