Beirut Martyrs' Square, Lebanon

The central and largest square in Beirut and its city center was built by the Ottoman in the 19th century.Its initial name is Place Des Canons referred to the Russian artillery placed there in the 18th century;the name was taken up again by the French in 1860.The square was renamed in memory of the Lebanese nationalists who were executed by the Turks during WWI.Martyrs' square was completely destroyed during the Lebanese civil war.In the early 1990's ,its reconstruction began and the sculpture by Renato Marino Mazzacurati (Italy) was restored.

• Nowadays, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, situated on the Mediterranean Sea ,is undergoing transformation from the inheritance of civil war(1975-1990) in which it separated the city into two conflicting sectors-between Christians in the East and Muslims in the South and West- socially spellbound and spatially isolated, making a duality inside the urban ‎fabric,starting at the Martyrs’ Square, delineated the “Green Line” boundary 

Beirut's Place des Canons or in It's official Name in Arabic, ساحة الشهداء (Martyrs' Square), has fulfilled the role of Lebanon's Liberty Square or ساحة الحرية , or Place de la liberté in French, throughout the Modern History of Lebanon. No doubt, this square will also host, and influence, the next major change the Republic will witness.

During the Lebanese civil war, Beirut Martyrs Square was transformed into a part of the “Green Line” dividing the city spatially, socially and politically. Sliver (2010) affirms that “the ‘Martyrs Memorial’ is a polysemic artifact both consensual and diversely symbolic”. (Calame, & Charlesworth,2009)

It was relatively clear from the different interviews conducted that the memory of the space was not always attached to its monumental aspect, but to the different activities taking place around. Indeed, some interviewees were retracing moments of the square as far as giving the author the name of the bartender, the newspaper they would buy in the early morning after a party, or even the number of the tramway line or bus they would use to come to the square. It goes without saying that the reconstruction and the redevelopment of the Martyrs’ Square is a common statement found in many narratives.

Young Protests admit that ‘Beirut’s Protest City is a Rebuke to the Privatization of Public Space’. Moreover, some interviewees were emphasizing the major role of this public square as a spot to revolt, make a change, take an action.

Martyrs’ Square plays a significant role in an alternate sort of division in social, spatial and political terms.

Nowadays,it is a dead square, loose ,ill-defined space,no more than a piece of concrete with a large number of parked cars on it, which ought to be the primary potiential ‎gathering space for nature,tourism and investment. (Amin, 2008). According to the Post-doctoral Australian Researcher, Nour N Dados:“the square as a line of demarcation, as a place of fear and terror, as a site of death” .

 Jacqueline Khoury, 84 years old:

‘Just look at Martyrs' Square, It was the heart of Beirut and a place where all of the social classes would mix. It was the biggest symbol of coexistence in Lebanon. Now it is just a statue lost in a car park. Why not develop gardens and parks instead of parking lots? The square needs a different vision for a continuous,affordable life in it.Days and Years passed by, we grew old and so did the city. The square is not what it used to be 70 years ago... everything has changed ever since’.

Soon after the end of the conflict, Solidere was reconstructing Beirut’s Central District. However, while the reconstruction of the city center is advancing, the proposed design for the Martyrs’ Square is still sketchy. The (re-) development of the square initiated multiple conferences and debates concerning its future design, image, perception and expectations

The expanding number of cars in the city removes the center of the square from its edges, and makes the experience of the space unpleasant to the loud, almost deafening sound of traffic.

According to the Former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Riad Al Solh:  

 “We know for a fact that about 70% of the traffic that comes through downtown is through traffic, not even destination traffic. And that traffic comes through Martyrs’ Square”.

People experience a feeling of belonging and a construction of otherness in territorial terms. According to the Lebanese journalist, Jad el Hage: 

“I hate the way they are demolishing the old center and plonking down a new root-less, soulless ghost town with only a handful of old buildings preserved. Ignorant arrogant assholes! What do they think they’re doing? We need to continue the country, not reinvent it. Every single fallen stone should come back to its place. We should rebuild the souks, restore the crumbling buildings—preserve the essence of a city that’s been there at least five thousand years.”

In Lebanese history, 17 October 2019 marks imprints the start of a long late ‎revolution. Citizens have started reclaiming public space during the revolution.This is due primarily to an exponential capitalist urbanization that favors private developments and real estate over public domain.

The previous findings emphasized the importance of use leveling on the Square, which may draw a distinctive image for the city. The reviving process may offer a symbolic organization of the space along the axis with an intelligent and varied array of structural services consolidating urban field around the square and axis,in addition,to solving the connectivity of the archeological site with the axis. The most important element of this process is the super-imposed layers of cultural promenade which can support social interaction, economy development, and providing open spaces for dense communities . As an urban strategy for sustainable development reviving squares,as well as an narration strategy for the possible roles of staircase and leveling in reviving plots