On 4 August 2020, Beirut was rocked by the biggest non-nuclear explosion ever recorded in an urban context. How should the reconstruction of the city now take place in its current political and socio-economic context?​

This symposium will look at the different forces that shaped what happened, the incident itself, and the different strategies required to reconstruct Beirut in the aftermath of this tragedy. As a series of short-term and long-term proposals, sessions across this day-long event will be chaired by AA students and will discuss ways in which heritage, reconstruction, community-led projects, and interdisciplinary exchange can all be addressed in the post-blast context.

00:00 – 1:49 – Introduction (Riyad Yassine)
1:51 – 17:08 – Savage Construction and Profiteers – (Mark Doumet)
18:40 – 32:43 – Socialising Evidence – (Samaneh Moafi/FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE)
34:40 – 41:51 – Stitching the Skyline – (Bernard Khoury)
44:33 – 55:50 – Mona Fawaz/Beirut Urban Lab
57:12 – 1:08:50 – Fill In The Blanks – (Rana Haddad)
1:08:51 – 2:16:39 – Discussion/Q&A