For some time now, since before the war, there have been talks of creating a water transportation system in Lebanon. Later, some 10 years ago, the idea was further developed by the Norwegian STUDIOhp and New York based LEFT architects. Come to think about it, indeed, the country could greatly benefit from reconnecting with its water, in a more importance sense than having sea resorts scattered around its beaches…
Following the path of these studies, ELHUB is part of new types of initiatives emerging in Lebanon that reflect the general exasperation of Lebanese with the standards of everyday life. True, the weather is ideal, sceneries beautiful and the food exquisite. But is that enough?
Denial of the Sea
It is consequently a puzzling fact that, maintaining some of the economic importance of its sea, Lebanon has, since its independence, worked towards downgrading its accessibility and urban alliance to it. Accessibility spans a large scope of issues, from mental to physical ones and Lebanon’s history has downplayed many of them, shutting and locking the reach to its shore (and to many other places for that matter). Two quick illustrations of this: the too few spots left on the coast for the common man to enjoy the seaside and the fact that, in important inhabited areas of the coast (Ouzai, Dora…), it is easy to forget that you are just few meters from water with commercial, industrial and no-man lands turning their backs to the sea. These points deal with urban integration of water which is important both for the quality of life and long-term economic stakes, as will be explained in a moment. To sum up, Lebanon has retained its immediate profitable uses of water, forgetting the less profitable human level; which is not justified because 60% of its population lives along the coast.
Having said that, ELHUB is not only about having boats transport people, tourists or goods. It is, above all, about using a common need, mobility, as an opportunity to get persons from different regions of Lebanon together on the hubs, in an attempt to attenuate both regional and mental accessibility barriers. A common need for a common space Having an affordable system linking coastal points is a first step towards Lebanese appropriation of their own territory. However, catalysers and motivators for the use of this system have to be the stations themselves. Fist of all, these stations are designed to become hubs by hosting various means of transport. Their location has been carefully studied to ensure accessibility from existing infrastructures. They offer dedicated spaces such as parking lots, bus stops and taxi/service points, as well as operational places such as ticketing and administration. This will hopefully shift traffic from inland to the hubs releasing some congestion due to improvised in-city hubs such as Dora, Barbir, Cola, to take Beirut as an example. The stations become people-attractors and these knots are an opportunity to encourage happenings.
So, they are platforms built on water with flexible floating structures; simple platforms with no predefined architectural strictness. They are generic, i.e. the same throughout the coast, offering neutrality so they can easily be appropriated by the locals. Even though a certain number of specific services, such as cafés, restaurants, kiosks and shops are predefined, we count on the Lebanese spontaneity and commercial incentive brought by travellers, ambulatory merchants and commercial venues as well as vehicle drivers to mould and generate spaces on and around the hubs. We also found interesting to design plug-ins with refurbished boats that travel from station to station and attach themselves to the platforms, hosting activities such as events, markets, cinemas and infinite other possibilities. All these activities are what render the system somewhat lucrative to insure financial sustainability. The hubs, their implantation and the boat trips provide a connection to the sea, reconciling the inland with the well known atmospheric qualities of the seaside. The ultimate objective is that the stations become hubs in every sense of the word: transport, commercial, leisure and cultural.
A dynamic spot where people, goods and ideas converge, blend and then dispatch. By reducing congestion and therefore facilitating mobility at an affordable price, the project aims at connecting people and regions, thus revitalising coastal points by urbanely reorienting them to the sea.
ELHUB is born and evolves for and with the people. It is designed to respond to specific Lebanese needs contributing to their everyday comfort but more importantly to necessary social mobility and urban accessibility. We do not underestimate this difficult task and this is why, beyond the actual construction of ELHUB, we would like this project to represent a new type of initiatives that we hope will be heard and demanded by the Lebanese.
