building law

After the Collapses: The Fate of Displaced Residents

Over the past five years, devastating building collapses have shaken various Lebanese cities. These tragic and recurring incidents have resulted in significant human casualties and extensive material losses. However, they are not isolated …

The Primary Causes Behind the Increasing number of Collapsed Buildings in Lebanon

In 2023, seismic activity raised concerns about building collapses in Lebanon, initially overlooked until a series of incidents occurred across different regions. These events are part of a broader context where Lebanon faces …

Buildings Collapse in Lebanon

It is difficult to be surprised today by the collapse of buildings around the Lebanese territory, being aware of the amount of legal and material factors that have weakened and destabilized their structure, …

Master-Planning in Lebanon: Manufacturing Landscapes of Inequality

How is urban planning practiced in Lebanon? What is the motive behind issuing master plans? And in what way do these plans violate fundamental rights? We tried during the years 2017 and 2018 …

Editorial

During the past decade, many researchers have studied the relationship between geography and law in an attempt to clarify the links between these two increasingly complex concepts. In reality, comparing law and the …

Interview with Engineer Mohammad Fawwaz

Ex-director of the General Directorate of Urban Planning (1973-1993)

The interview with Engineer Mohammad Fawwaz was conducted by Public Works Studio as part of the project “Planning in Lebanon: Manufacturing Landscapes of Inequality” (2017-2018). It explores the history of urban planning practice …

The Collapse of the Rishani Building in Chouaifat Exposes the Failures of the Owner, Municipality, and the General Directorate for Urban Planning

Just about a week after the complete collapse of a building in Sahra Chouaifat, another tragedy struck on Monday, February 19, 2024. The Rishani building in the Ain neighbourhood of Chouaifat collapsed on …

Sahra Chouaifat Building Collapse:

The threat of buildings constructed between 1990 and 2005

Yesterday, a 5-storey building collapsed in Sahra Choueifat. As a result, about 13 families and a number of shops were displaced, all of which survived by chance. The collapse was also followed by …

A Month After the Collapse of the Mansourieh Building

Engineering, a Profession Hijacked by the Market

In this article, we investigate the case of the collapsed building in the Yazbek-Hamoush residential complex in Mansourieh (16 October 2023), in an effort to raise necessary questions about the causes of the …

From Dalieh in 1995 Until Today: A New Extension of the Hotel Exemption Law

Proposing a law aiming at “Extending the application of Law No. 264 (extending the work of the law related to exempting hotels from some provisions of the Building Law).”

The law proposal was submitted on 20/3/2023, and has not yet been referred to parliamentary committees.

Ground to Dust: Systems of Extraction and the Search for Spatial Justice

This exhibition at Beirut Art Center is Public Works Studio’s first institutional presentation. Rather than approach the format of the exhibition with any kind of finality, PW has created a site as unstable …

The “Murr Floor” Project Returns: The Government Provides no Solution to the Housing Crisis and Increases Speculation on Land Prices

A proposal to amend Article 66 of Law No. 144 (Budget Law).

It has been included in the agenda of the Parliament on 07/12/2021.