Palestinian architects win international competition to redesign Beirut port

Four Palestinians who completed bachelor's degrees in architecture at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank won first place in an international competition for the design and reconstruction of the destroyed Port of Beirut in Lebanon. 
 

The explosion of Warehouse No. 12 on Aug. 4, 2020, killed nearly 200 people, injured more than 6,000 and caused massive material damage to residential buildings and commercial establishments.

The 2021 Phoenix Prize is given by iDAR-Jerusalem, a Palestinian nonprofit organization that promotes architecture by identifying and celebrating innovative and outstanding design ideas. Its Haifa Award for Design and Architecture.

On May 17, the jury announced that the project titled “The Aftermath: Productive Beirut” won first prize.
 

The project was submitted by the Palestinian team named MAD Architects, which included two young women and a young man. Another 13 projects were submitted from entrants in the United States, Russia, Poland, Palestine, the Zionist regime, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Bahrain, Portugal, China and Lebanon.

“The project also aims to quickly provide temporary housing units for 300,000 Lebanese who lost their homes in the explosion," Majd al-Maliki, a member of the winning team, said. "These temporary homes are modular and can be developed in the future into permanent housing or workplaces.”