public garden

 Horsh Beirut Closed Again

On July 24, 2024, the Beirut Governor approved the closure of Horsh Beirut only allowing the entry of visitors who obtain prior permission. This illegal closure is nothing but a confirmation of the state’s failure to open, manage, and guard municipal parks and enhance their role as public spaces open to all residents of the city.

Young men raided the Beirut Horsh and the municipality rewards them

In April 2024, a group of young men from Tariq Al-Jadida raided Horsh Beirut to apprehend youths accused of drug use and trafficking by entering the Horsh through gaps in its fence, following …

No to Imposing Fees or Restrictions on Access to Horsh Beirut

In 2019, the Lebanese parliament passed a law submitted by deputy Fouad Makhzoumi establishing “The Protection of Horsh Beirut”. What is this law and what are its reprecussions? This law brings us back …

Public Gardens in Beirut:

A Right the State Deprives People From

A petition to pressure the state to open public gardens in Beirut to the public, after closing them during the lockdown.

Mapping State-Owned Land Against Privatization

In light of the ongoing financial and economic collapse, mainstream public discourse called for the privatization of public assets, to save the state from bankruptcy, through a fund enabling banks to seize state-owned …

Mapping State-Owned Land Against Privatization

In light of the ongoing financial and economic collapse, mainstream public discourse called for the privatization of public assets, to save the state from bankruptcy, through a fund enabling banks to seize state-owned …

Mapping State-Owned Land Against Privatization

In Lebanon, the state owns a substantial part of the territory, estimated to range between 20 and 25 per cent of the country’s total surface area. These publicly owned properties – the unbuilt ones – constitute our natural and ecological environment. They are a national asset directly linked to our ways of life and diverse livelihoods across Lebanese regions. Yet these public properties are the newest target of privatization through multiple government plans.
In this series of articles, part of an in-depth research project, we try to answer the following questions: What kind of land is owned by the Lebanese state? Where is it located? What social value does it hold? And what do we stand to lose if the state concedes this land?In this series of articles, part of an in-depth research project, we try to answer the following questions: What kind of land is owned by the Lebanese state? Where is it located? What social value does it hold? And what do we stand to lose if the state concedes this land?

Open Public Gardens, They Are the Safest Spaces

An Open Letter to the Government and the Beirut Municipality

This is an open letter to the government and Beirut municipality, demanding the reopening of public gardens in Beirut, following the gradual lifting of closures due to covid-related health concerns. Read it in …

Practicing the Public

This collection of essays and maps digs beyond the apparent dichotomies between public and private spaces in an effort to understand what makes public space such a complex minefield. The publication starts with …

Exhibition at Sursock Museum: Recreational sites in 1950s Beirut

English translation in progress.

Recreational Sites in 1950s Beirut

Next to the “official” history of Beirut that recounts its spatial production through the establishment of formal urban squares and gardens (such as Place de L’Etoile, Sanayeh Garden, Place des Canons), we drew …