Abstract:
When we think of coastal cities, we imagine them as attractive, dynamic built forms that celebrate their proximity to water. Yet, the reality of water is threatening. This same fluid body has generated fear, leading communities to act out of urgency in the face of disasters; creating defensive man-made strategies that are static while our cities are in dynamic flux. With climate change and sea-level rise, the prediction of time has been uncertain, making these obtrusive mechanisms obsolete for long-term relief. However, while some cities are gradually sinking, others are facing immediate destruction; killing thousands of people and leaving even more displaced and
traumatized. Instead of focusing on the negative outcomes and building against natural elements, can architecture embrace disasters to turn these tragedies into opportunities in design to ensure man shelter?
My thesis explores the power of water as a catalyst in the face of disasters. Acknowledging displacement as an inevitable aftermath, I concentrate on Karantina, a coastal city in Lebanon known for its history of displacement, as the edge of my intervention; Floating Infrastructural Safe Haven. F.I.S.H suggests a positive reflection of the city’s landfills but also reflects the Lebanese’s society’s sense of survival; the need for diversity and a shared economy. It therefore extends the shoreline by becoming a safe haven for the displaced but also for our infrastructure. This new type of amphibious species can proliferate on coastal edges of the Mediterranean, celebrating this in-between edge, in preparation of the unthinkable.
