Post-War Reconstruction, Lessons from Europe
AKSB 903, Beirut campus
The School of Architecture and Design, under the patronage of Dean Elie Haddad, is hosting a one-day symposium titled: “Post-war Reconstruction: Lessons from Europe”.
European countries were devastated after World War II, with several cities lying in ruins. This necessitated immediate strategies for reconstruction. While some cities opted for a “back to the original” approach, reconstructing the old cities as they were before the war, others adopted the CIAM principles and opted for a modernist approach, for better or worse.
As we witness today similar devastation in the Arab world resulting from multiple and ongoing wars from Libya to Iraq and Syria, this conference calls for a timely consideration of the lessons of the past, so that some of the strategies that have led to negative results can be avoided.
Bringing together a panel of experts from Eastern and Western Europe, and covering major case studies in Poland, Germany, England, France, and Italy, this symposium seeks to examine different models of reconstruction, gathering the lessons of Europe in a publication.
The symposium will bring together a number of speakers, with the keynote lecture given by Prof. Nicholas Bullock, visiting professor at King’s College, University of Cambridge.