Dr. Jala Makhzoumi, Professor at the Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, at AUB asked, “With the rising awareness of spatial limitations and the spacing and respacing movements of public areas, how can buildings compliment, compensate, and enhance nature?” Makhzoumig, acting as moderator in the fourth and last Ta3a Ne7ke Debate for this Fall, opened the session with the hope of enticing people to rethink nature. According to her, nature is something tangible; it is a view, a sprout of green and the combination of resources.
The guest speakers of this session were Architects, Mr. Aram Yeretzian and Mr. Abdul HalimJabr from the Department of Architecture and Design at AUB, Economist Dr. Jad Chaaban, from the Department of Agricultural Sciences, and Dr. Salma Talhouk from the Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management at AUB.
Yeretzian stated that we have to keep in mind that cities were nature once; a virgin land now taken over by buildings. He is a founding member at the Lebanon Green Building Council (LGBC) and has his own private practice. He stated that there is a constant need to integrate nature into architecture, so that the actual environment and the performed will be synchronized. Yeretzian explained to the attendees how the ARZ building rating system, which they had initiated, works. According to the website of the LGBC, “The ARZ Building Rating System is designed to measure the extent to which existing commercial buildings in Lebanon are healthy, comfortable places for working, consuming the right amount of energy and water, while having a low impact upon the natural environment. In addition, the rating system will stimulate building owners and facility managers to achieve ever-higher certification levels to attract discerning tenants and clients.”The aim of such a system is that it allows greening, green-roofing and green-spacing, as well as for enhanced aspects in construction through the rating system it provides clients before the building process is initiated.
Jabr, architect and urban design consultant, believes that architects have the privilege of controlling form, shape and its attributes, utility and scale, as well as additional natural aspects. He stressed on the importance of the typology in an architect’s works which now entails incorporating nature with building by bringing it into the city. He stated that the orientation of the building and its physique are important natural elements which ought to be considered by every architect. When building, architects, in his opinion, should not only concern themselves with what they have built, but also with what they have left behind. In contrasting the character of public versus private properties, Jabr noted that street level backyards, landmarks, and gardens are usually neglected while the private realm is endowed with character-giving icons. Jabr criticized our attempts to protect nature in rural areas and neglect them in the city. He stated that, “architects need to recover the collective effect of buildings [in the city].”
Dr. Talhouk, on the other hand, opened her talk by defining nature. “Instead of talking about soil and earth and land, let us talk about life on earth,” she said. She believes that the term “greening,” used vigorously in the corporate world and by architects, underestimates the true meaning of “green:” “Green is not green anymore,” she stated, adding that, “we are de-lifing life.” She accentuated that the loss of biodiversity, especially in the city, is an “indication of loss of life and we are a component of this life.” In other words, we are leading ourselves to our own demise. One striking statement made by Talhouk emphasizes what few are aware of; she stated: “nature and greening do not conserve biological diversity; I can green, but I am not preserving life.” To this she proposes a solution, which is working through an interdisciplinary approach to creating a pattern which will breed real synergy. Talhouk explained that loss of biodiversity is brought about by loss of habitat, overuse of its resources, as well as invasive species. Little do we recognize that we, as human beings, are considered invasive species ourselves.“Life provides us with services that we need to recognize and enhance,” she stated. Therefore, Talhouk’s advice is the initiation of action on the biodiversity level, negotiating between life and services, and delaying species extinction; we need to start identifying our benchmark and understanding the nature we are trying to save, she concluded.
Dr. Jad Chaaban, whose work is linked with policy-making, stated that there is an economic, financial, and social cost for “greening.” Chaaban advocated building nature around us, stressing that with time, 90% of people in the world will be living in cities. He asked whether greening in the cities should be encouraged; Chaaban believes that it is a matter of policy, of whether or not the government is ready to subsidize. In other words, Chaaban did recommend the acts of greening: “it costs a lot, [it] is better to invest in transportation for easy country-side access,” should anyone desire to spend time in nature.