Bridge The Gap

Abstract

When a massive earthquake hit Southern California early July of last year, earth shifted, and a huge fissure was created that could even be seen from space. A man standing along that line with all his requirements of earthly goods within easy reach suddenly found himself separated from such goods by a severe divide.

Severe economic upheavals, such as those rocking Lebanon nowadays, have similarly left people with impaired access to goods and services required for their survival. During such hard times, the need arises for alternative avenues to the traditional systems normally used as basis for exchanging such goods and services. In the extreme condition when “money” is yanked out of the equation, the gap between people and the products they need becomes brutally apparent.

Over the course of history, humanity developed various remedies to deal with extreme circumstances ranging from the crude to highly sophisticated solutions.

How can I, as an architect, learn and extract from previous scenarios that shifted the power from the hands of administrators to that of the communities and come up with a context-specific approach suited to the complexities of today?