The Beirut Port Renewal Competition shortlists 40 student projects

A final group of 40 submissions representing 21 different countries is now advancing in the Inspireli Beirut Port Renewal Competition. The participating teams are tasked to envision an important redesign of Lebanon's chief economic engine following the tragic 2020 explosion that took 218 lives and caused an estimated $15 billion in structural damage.

Beirut as a city claims to have been destroyed and rebuilt seven times throughout its 5,000-year history. Taking this lineage as its charge, the student-designed entries evince a sense of hope for the ailing capital. With the help of Mayor Dr. Jamal Itani, the jury selected projects that could eventually be considered by the Port Administration and Lebanese ministries of Transportation and Public Works for the final reconstruction, which promises to be one of the most important infrastructure projects in the region in decades.

Competition organizer Inspireli shares that its ambit "aimed to show Beirut that it is not alone in times of crisis." The competition ran for two semesters and was part of the assignments of seminars in more than 50 universities around the world. A Lebanese winner will be selected along with an international design. Financial rewards and international exposure promise to be the main incentive, in addition to the chance to compete with the slate of architectural heavyweights sure to be assembled for the project despite of some claims of opportunism. 

A total of 249 entries were whittled down to the group of finalists below. The category winners will be announced on September 8th. 

LEBANESE FINALISTS

• (Cover image) The Archive Machine: Beirut Silos E-Government Data Center by Jamil Tarraf Labaki, Notre Dame University–Louaize, Faculty of Architecture, Louaize
• Beirut Pulse by Nour Messaikeh, Maryam Agha, and Hazem Said, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Tripoli
• BAY-RUT: A Living Port-City by Mohammad Al Arnaout, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Debbieh
• Post-Humanistic Data Center by Dana Al Mamlouk, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Debbieh
• Rebirth from Ashes by Rim Ihsan Hassan, Gharam Emad Mesto, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Tripoli

• Beirut Port: An Urban Life Generator by Sergio Zgheib - Peter Aoun, Lea Lahoud - Rita Abi Zeid, Julien Mikhael, Nour Kreidy, and Thea Bechara, Lebanese University - Faculty of Fine Arts - Furn el Chebbak
• Restoration of The Beirut Port by Zahed Arzouni, Mohammad Alirezaeitehrani, and Ehsan Eeza
• The Missed Potential of Beirut’s Port Interface by Antanios Habib, USEK
• Planning A Step Forward by Lea Hage, Notre Dame University–Louaize, Faculty of Architecture, Louaize

• Beirut, The City Of Hope by Pia Maria Saber, USEK
• Beirut Cruise Terminal by Hasem Said, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Tripoli
• Beirut Intelligent Port by Ahmad ELAssaad, Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Tripoli
• Beirut, A Multi-Layered Port City by Myriam Bou Khalil, Clara Fahed, Ghinwa Mansour, Ghinwa Bou Fadel, Sarah Atoui, and Melissa Saikaly, Lebanese University, Institute des Beaux Arts – Department of Architecture

INTERNATIONAL FINALISTS

• Relier by Eugenia Brandán, Lorena Paola Maizares, María Laura Rivero Garce, Cecilia María Pía Villalobo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Tucumán (Argentina)
• Beirut Port Solidarity by Hanieh Hashemifar and Soudeh Saedi, Cyprus International University (Turkey)
• BEIRUT by Riku Suzuki, Makiko Imamura, Ayaka Yotsuhira, and Xianyu Wu, University of Arkansas (Japan)
• The Beirut Lines by Chee Kin Tan and Jennifer Wei Zhang, Tsinghua University (Malaysia)

• WHAT IF……….? by Paula Manosalvas, Esteban Campos, Edison Pisuña, Sofía Rodas, and Vale Silva, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbaya, Ecuador, Facultad de Arquitectura y Diseno Interior (Ecuador)
• The image of Beirut from integrating circuits by Sonia Salazar, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)
• Towards an active Beirut by Joshua Paredes Andrés Lozada, Henry Martínez Matías Wu, Camille Noboa Paz Bermeo, Salomé Tirado Ashley Grandes, Juan Freire, Martín Rivera, and Terry Palomeque, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)
• B - PORT, THE HEART OF BEIRUT / STEP OF TIME by Jana Trnková, FAD STU (Slovakia)

• Resilience Beirut’s Essence by Diana Padilla Herrera, and Emma Benedictis Cortés, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)
• Beirut Port: Trauma-informed approach in place making by Ensieh Salaran, Roya Raeis, CIU (Iran)
• THE HEARTBEAT OF BEIRUT by Stanislav Ustuyano and Hristo Uzunov, UACEG (Bulgaria)
• One goal, one passion - Beirut by Tamara Tarasava and Marina Tarasava, Polotsk State University (Belarus)

• Beirut Port Sea Life by Milan Ristić, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Architecture (Serbia)
• Reborn from the Ashes by Saša Radosavljevic, Sofia Murer and Jacopo Bonazzi, University of Trento (Italy)
• THE BLENDIN'LINE by Elisa Zadra, Isabel Torresani, and Alessandro Gazzini, University of Trento (Italy)
• B-Port, The Reborn of Beirut by Daniel Sancha, Gabriela Pinheiro, Ece Boysal, Mai Hisham, Miona Vuleta, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Spain)

• BEIRUT PORT by Růžena Mašková, Jakub Tomašík and Adam Rössler, ČVUT FSV (Czech Republic)
• BLUE FINGERS by Jesse Ragaiolo, Luca Goss and Alessia Simion, University of Trento (Italy)
• Port of Beirut: Public re-claimation of the waterfront by Ruben Epping, Lund University (Germany)
• Anti-Tyros: Reimagining Beirut Port, the industrial frontiers and the disentanglement of crises by Michail Karamichalis, University of Patras, School of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Patras (Greece)

• Spine of Poro-City by Selin Ercan, Simge Topal, Selin Aydemir and Venüs Can, TEDU (Turkey)
• Green line for Beirut by Maria Antonina Kęsy, Edmonda Bytyqi, Szent István University - Ybl Miklós Faculty of Architecture (Poland)
• Veins of Beirut by Malene Buchenberger, Fabian Haslehner and Paul Fromherz, Technical University of Vienna (Austria)
• Smart Harbour by Emma Guarnieri, Riccardo Saccardi and Simone Vinco, University of Trento (Italy)

• RE-INTERWINE_Rebuild Beirut by Chao Zhou and Wan-Hsuan Wu, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Department of Architecture, Taipei City (Taiwan)
• BEIRUT’S RED by Eric Tolaba, Ana Belen Juarez, Emilia Gutierrez and Lujan Cordero, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Tucumán (Argentina)
• The lung of Beirut by Rossi Yapur, Daniela, Murguizur and Juan Nicolas, FAU-UNT (Argentina)