All roads lead to Martyr’s Square

Abstract

Beirut’s birth point is the area currently known as Martyr’s square and it’s surrounding. Remains of ancient civilizations dating back 5000 years are a clear testament of the importance of the site. Throughout history, Martyr’s Square served as major political and socio-economic for Lebanon, and witnessed great development in the 20th century up until the Civil War, turning it into a demarcation line that was ravished with bullets for more than a decade. Today the site is nothing more than a roundabout for daily transit, and serves as a protest zone on a few occasions: it is in need of a new identity. The aim of the project is to re-introduce the natural landscape that was once present in Beirut, to the heart of Beirut. Doing so by disintegrating the traditional plaza, and turning it into an urban forest that will evolve and adapt over time. A landscape project can never be represented in an unknown state in the future in its supposed final state, since landscape is constantly changing.