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Abir Saksouk

Co-Director and Head of Research Department

Abir graduated as an architect in 2005, and later did her masters in Urban Development Planning. She is the co-founder of Public Works Studio. Her primary focus includes urbanism and law, property and shared space, and the right to the city of marginalized communities. She is active in exploring how local organizing could be employed in actively shaping the future of cities. Abir is also a member of the Legal Agenda and a co-founder of Dictaphone Group. 

Investigation

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 …

Research-Based Article

Guide to Community Work at the Local Level

This research examines the role of local community organizing in relation to the theory of change and spatial justice within the context of Lebanon. It explores both the theoretical and practical aspects of …

Study

Migrant Workers and Refugees Are Facing a Dilemma as the Specter of Eviction Hovers in an Economic Crisis Threatening the Right to Housing

Rent is a primary way to access housing in the Lebanese cities which house diverse social classes. The percentage of tenants in Beirut reaches 49.5% of its total population. According to a survey …

Research-Based Article

Housing-Designated Lands:

The State Had Housing Projects

In this article, we focus on the state-owned lands designated for housing. Understanding the nature of these properties, their location, and their current uses is essential when discussing any solutions to the ongoing …

Research-Based Article

Tripoli: The Nakba of Unfinished Housing Projects

In this article, we focus on the state-owned lands that have been historically designated for housing in the cities of Tripoli and Mina (North Lebanon). First, we examine the multiple types of state …

Research-Based Article

The Reclassification of Public State Property, a Tool to Fulfill the Desires of the Powerful

ينتشر اليوم خطاب واسع ويطغى، مسوّقاً لخصخَصة الأملاك العامة كوسيلةٍ لإنقاذ الدولة من الإفلاس. هذه الأملاك هي جزء أساسي من محفظة أصول لبنان العامة...

Publication

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 …

Research-Based Article

Where are the State’s Lands?

In this article, we delve into the texts of laws, decrees, and records from the Ministry of Finance. Our aim is to shed light on the nature of public property, its geographical distribution, ...

Project

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 …

Research-Based Article

About the Absence of State Housing Policies

Disconnected Laws and Temporary Procedures

In light of the severe housing crisis in Lebanon, in this article we are interested in monitoring the state’s measures in the housing sector and their compatibility with the requirements of society in …

Research-Based Article

Baalbek: A Long History of Exclusion, for the City and its People

In this text, we present an overview of the city of Baalbek and its neighborhoods, and the exclusion that resulted from specific planning tools. We read into the numerous masterplans, in their dwarfing …

Investigation

“Those who cannot pay for a gallon of gas, let them use a different means of transportation.”

Since the end of the civil war, the dominant class has collaborated with the private sector to destroy many sectors at the expense of public interest. In the context of public transport, the …