Richard Sennet, a contemporary sociologist, laments that in a modern society we have lost the ancient Greek concept of city as a classroom: a place where one can learn and integrate. Modern culture suffers from a divide between inside and outside. The user draws a line between subjective experience and worldly experience: Self vs. City. People are afraid of being exposed to strangers on the streets and for that uphold an introverted lifestyle. Bourj Hammoud portrays itself a s a reclusive community. the buildings within the site can be viewed as insular and in need for “opening up”.
As a solution to this, a residential program that integrated public spaces should be adopted within the site. A new typology for housing units with open spaces for social engagement will help inhabitants achieve the communal characteristics they lack.
The other program will include a market: permanent and temporary. Vendors can exhibit their products within the open market – this will allow the industrial zone and the commercial or residential zone to come together in the production process.
The area of intervention is the abandoned factory that sits in the center of the site and will house the permanent market. Being adjacent to an empty parking lot, the welcoming plaza will invite pedestrians to experience the project and take part in it.