LAU students envision South Lebanon transformation
Students won the third prize of the U.N.-organized competition “Seeing the South,” which called on Lebanese architecture students to put forth ideas for improvement of long-sidelined areas close to the southern border.
Chantal Hayek, Maher Abdul-Raheem, Rana Abdallah and Abdallah Kabbara won the third prize of the U.N.-organized competition “Seeing the South,” which called on Lebanese architecture students to put forth ideas for improvement of long-sidelined areas close to the southern border.
In the LAU students’ winning proposal, the Marjayoun airport is turned into a natural preserve. An ecological and cultural park integrates existing structures. Notably, the prize stipulates a sum of $25,000 to be matched by other grants toward the project’s realization.
Another student group had an unofficial but equally exciting reward as their their project drew Mercy Corps’ attention. Antoinette Nammoure, Maya Freigi, Abdul-Aziz Al-Azem, Amira Bizri and Rasha Geiid proposed a park on the site of the infamous Khiam prison.
For the students, the park is a way of smothering “the culture of death” and making way for “a culture of life.” Their ideas are imprinted on their design scheme through the words of the Declaration of Human Rights, olive trees and flowing water channels. The Daily Star
The projects were done for the Landscape Design Studio taught in Spring 2004 by Mr. Rachid Chamoun.
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