SOLIDERE launches an international urban design ideas competition for Martyrs' Square

The project comprises a chain of public spaces open to the sea, together with adjacent land with a total development capacity of 675,000 m2 of floor space.

The challenge is to envision the new identity of Martyrs' Square and the Grand Axis of Beirut within the context of a renewed capital that is overcoming the destruction and divisions of war and regaining its role within regional and global economies. Significant to this development is the concept of a new kind of active, sustainable and mixed-use city center.

"Martyrs' Square has re-invented itself about every 100 years or so since medieval times. It is about to do so again, as part of a 24-hour active, live-in city center that is very different from the old model of a Central Business District", said Angus Gavin, Urban Development Division Head.

Under the auspices of the Union of International Architects (UIA) headquartered in Paris, the competition has been approved as conforming with UNESCO-UIA regulations concerning international competitions in architecture and town planning. The international jury complies with UNESCO-UIA requirement for global, regional, and national representation. The UIA approved jury consists of:

• Fouad Awada, architect/urban planner (Lebanon)
• Roueida Ayache, architect (France)
• Donald Bates, architect (Australia)
• Rodolfo Machado, architect/urban designer (USA)
• Joan Busquets, architect/urban planner (Spain)
• Samir Khalaf, sociologist (Lebanon)
• Chong Chia Goh, architect (Singapore).

The two deputy jury members are:

• Bernard Khoury, architect (Lebanon)
• Morizio Marzi, architect (Italy).

The international competition is open to both professionals and students with the aim of soliciting worldwide urban design talent.

The goal of the competition is to conceptualize an urban design for Martyrs' Square and the Grand Axis that can give this historic place a new identity, drive the repositioning of the city within the region and help reconcile the divisions that polarized Beirut during the war years. Guided by the relaunching of the Martyrs' Square Grand Axis as a site for reconnection and communication, the competition brief also proposes a future role for the corridor as media and communications hub. With the implementation of Broadband multi-media telecommunications infrastructure imminent, the Beirut City Center will be equipped to adapt rapidly to the New Economy and the Information Age.

"The new Martyrs' Square has the opportunity to become, once again, the city's meeting point and social arena. As part of its re-emergence the Grand Axis will be future-oriented, helping Beirut reposition itself amongst competing cities in the region", said Angus Gavin.

Martyrs' Square itself formed the origin of the wartime Green Line that divided Beirut. Today, the position of Martyrs' Square and the Grand Axis within a context and mix of land uses that range through residential, retail and commercial, touristic and entertainment, cultural and public, suggests a new kind of city center that is very different from the predominantly single-use Central Business Districts of the past. Emphasis is on the creation of a new form of active, mixed-use, residential downtown and city center meeting point for all Lebanese citizens.

The competition is web-based. The launching of the competition also marks the launching of the website www.beirutmartyrssquare.com. All information necessary to enter the competition will be found online. Registration will also be online and is open until July 31, 2004. The competition is in two stages: the first stage is open to both professionals and students and will be complete by October 1. Jury deliberations for the first stage are planned to take place in mid October. The second stage will be limited to 5-7 shortlisted professional firms as selected by the Jury. It will run until mid-April 2005 when the final jury will be held. Results from both stages of the competition will be announced on Martyrs' Day, May 6th, 2005. A public exhibition of competition schemes will follow.