Abstract:
FYP 1 : My research tackled the systems created by marginalized communities to earn the right to dwell where they are deemed illegal. Taking Venice (Italy) as a case study, I study the stages of domesticating a land through recordings I make of numerous dwellers who use their spaces and movements as a reaction to their surroundings. My research consisted of immersing myself in the daily routines of 5 people that don’t "belong" in the Venice vignette, adopting fine art sketching as a primary form of documentation of their engagement of the urban fabric at the border of legality.
FYP 2 : Back to Lebanon, my work now borrows from this engagement with the right of marginalized communities to dwell and thrive in public. In such a judgmental society, for people who do not belong to an "established norm" to exist, they need to find creative ways to live. LGBTQI+ Hamra: My project currently explores hidden layers that could host, entertain and empower the LGBTQI+ community in Beirut, that is one of the most violently assaulted of the city's dwellers. Through designing and AR experience in Hamra, I intend to create systems that would allow the queer community to claim and explore Hamra street, and engage with it both culturally and economically, the app also develops a new relationship with the street and offers community-building happenings through events.