A CITY DWELLER'S RETREAT: A GARDEN OF REFUGE

Clinging onto the cliff and edge of Beirut, the wave-breaker structure challenges how we confront the effects of privatisation and gentrification in Beirut. Following the civil war in Lebanon, regulatory frameworks enabled private investors to take charge of the city's planning. Beirut’s coast has in turn been dominated by skyscrapers, private resorts, as well as physical barriers such as wave-breakers, which are introduced to limit citizens' access to the sea. This project introduces an innovative modification to Beirut’s coast, by transforming traditional wave-breakers into structures serving as both an environmental resource as well as an inhabitable space.