Collective Valleys, Part 1
Reclaiming Bisri’s Common LandscapeLocation: Bisri, Lebanon
SMArchS Urbanism Thesis 20’, MIT 2020
Advisor: Rafi Segal
Readers: Rania Ghosn, Miho Mazereeuw
Failed infrastructure initiatives have been at the forefront of Lebanon’s 2019 October Revolution, a nationwide movement born from the frustrations of unjust laws and misuses of public funds. The uprising has put the government’s corrupt plans in the spotlight, one of which is a national strategy of dam construction spanning the entirety of the country. This thesis re-examines how large-scale water infrastructure in Lebanon has disrupted ecologies and uprooted local communities, exacerbating existing social tensions for political gain. Visualizing river valleys as contested landscapes, this thesis explores the transition of these valleys from a constant state of destruction to places where people can reclaim their rights to the landscape. Taking the case of the Bisri Valley, where a highly contested Dam mega-project is in the process of being built, this thesis proposes an alternative future for the valley, transforming it from a politically contested dam reservoir, to an environmentally and socio-culturally preserved collective landscape.
Protesting the Bisri Dam
The Root of the Problem: The Vicious Cycle of Water Infrastructure in Lebanon led to mega-infrastructure projects
