NOSTALGIA FOR A PAST: BEIRUT’S SHARED OPEN SPACES

Abstract

Beirut’s urban fabric is a palimpsest reflecting different historical periods with their natural growths, deformations and happenings. Traces of urban open spaces including streets and some squares persist and feed collective memories in this city. Other open spaces emerge through the post-war layer and inform about the everyday practices of Beirut’s coexisting societies. This paper provides an overview of the state of open urban spaces in Beirut, and focuses on the ethics of the aesthetics of Beirut’s post-war open urban spaces. The aim is to establish an understanding of the role of those spaces in relation to memory, identity and everyday urban life in present-time Beirut.

Keywords

• Beirut
• public space
• memory
• aesthetic experience
• integration