Our architecture students from the School of Architecture and Design at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA) recently participated in the We Design exhibition. We Design Beirut is a 4-day design event organized by Mariana Wehbe Public Relations, in partnership with industrial designer Samer Alameen and visual communication studio Bananamonkey. The event took place in several areas in Beirut from May 23-26, 2024 and featured workshops, showrooms, installations and talks under the themes of empowerment, preservation and sustainability. Well-known and up-and-coming designers, craftsmen, experts and students showcased their work in three key locations based on the theme: We Empower (P.S.Lab), We Preserve (Villa Audi), and We Sustain (Abroyan Factory).The We Sustain exhibition took place at the Abroyan Factory, a former 1940s textile factory-turned-cultural space and nightlife venue, and displayed the works of over 80 students and recent graduates from five universities: American University of Beirut (AUB), Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ), Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts(ALBA), Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), and Lebanese American University (LAU). MSFEA Architecture & Design students produced two exhibitions, “Hybrid Materiality” and “Climatic Devices” which are projects looking respectively at materiality and climate as impetus for sustainable design and were developed part of their coursework in the Environmental Design Studio “Form Follows Climate” in Fall 2023. . The Environmental Design Studio is a third-year architecture studio co-taught in its Fall 2023 edition by professors Sandra Frem, Trevor Patt, Karim Moussawer, and Dana Muhsen. As a studio in the core sequence of the architecture program, it sheds light on environmental issues and the integration of green strategies into the design of mixed-use projects with a housing component in natural, rural, or urban settings.
Hybrid Materiality
Students developed prototypes from recyclable sources to lower carbon footprints, challenging conventional material practices. Through their exploration of five sites in Beirut: Karantina, Sin El Fil, Msaytbeh, Fanar, and Mkalles, they analyzed material processes that lead to cycles of mass production, resource extraction, and climate transformation. Students brainstormed efficient forms of recycling for their identified material and combined it through recyclable or made/printed material processes, using it as a replacement for resource-intensive materials. Each experimentation resulted in a single hybrid material prototype, with studies showcasing the prototype’s thermal, formal, and structural properties.
Participating students included Yara Zgheib, Kristy Farhat, Yara Mneinme, Laila Sadi, Sarah Saayfan, Muhieddine Rifai, Selina Khoury, Taline Kammoun, Dina Arnous, Christina Sayegh, Lynn Chmaysani, Fouad Yassine, Dana Hafi, Ali Ballout, Kamar Hamed, Sirene Najmeddine, Maya El Kadi, Andrea Kahwach, Sarah Abi Karam, Carl Youssef, Aya Abou Shakra , Karen Fares, Roupen Mardirossian, Makram Alameddine, Serena Boudakian, Mirna Nasrallah, Fatima Dakroub, Joe Najem, Cynthia Harb, Tina Akel, Jacy Salameh, Nicolas Hajj, Talia Sakr, Loulwa Otrok, and Nour Nazer.
Climatic Devices
Participating students rethinked how architectural form can control climate and develop atmospheres and spatial experience in relation to climatic performance. The projects portrayed served as climatic devices that can be used to develop new atmospheric conditions in five sites across Beirut - Karantina, Sin El Fil, Msaytbeh, Fanar, and Mkalles. The students conducted comprehensive environmental analyses of each site to identify two parameters, such as wind, sun, light, or material composition, and then developed and examined micro-architectural devices that respond to these parameters through unique floor, wall, and roof assemblies. These devices were designed to amplify, attenuate, or manipulate existing behaviors such as heat gain, natural ventilation, evaporation, condensation, daylight, and more, resulting in a transitory element on the spatial, experiential, and environmental levels. This conceptual research provides new methods of enquiry that rethink how architecture can shape climatic atmospheres and can be a starting point for further development in high-performance façades, roof systems, and other building components. Participating Students include Aya Abou Shakra , Makram Alameddine , Dina Arnous, Fatima Dakroub, Karen Fares, Kristy Farhat, Dana Hafi , Nicolas Hajj , Sarah Saayfan , Laila Sadi , Talia Sakr, Carl Youssef, Yara Zgheib.
Karen Fares, a participant in this exhibition, said this initiative has been extremely beneficial in reinforcing the process of refining certain details and testing them. She added “the exhibition also allowed for a greater exchange of information between different, yet similar disciplines.” Similarly, Yara Zgheib, another participant of this initiative, emphasized that the challenge of the exhibition is what produced growth. “Choosing and understanding a material and all its qualities is such an under-explored facet of the architectural realm, especially when working with concepts and massings. This micro to macro approach was critical in teaching us to ground the concept in the real-time challenges of climate and living,” she added.