/cafè al nabeh, jezzine: integrated conservation and energy retrofit/ lebanon 2015

In the framework of the project “Yalla ya shabHUB: human development and social innovation to promote entrepreneurship of young generations in Jezzine, Southern Lebanon” promoted by OXFAM Italy with funds granted by MAECI, studioazue is developing an integrated conservation project   of Cafè El Nabeh building.

The rehabilitation methodology proposed addresses the conservation process on the basis of integrating traditional space into a wider territorial context from the global viewpoint of a multi-sectoral, economic, social and environmental approach. It aims at defining spaces which are flexible, due to the need for continual adaptation to changing realities.

Traditional architecture is a form of architecture built using local resources, which covers materials, techniques and skills of its constructors, and it is the fundamental expression of the culture of the different communities and their relation with nature and the landscape. In its global dimension, traditional habitat has a great deal to contribute to a context of sudden changes and urbanisation that is marked by a need for the reorientation of urban policies in order to reduce conflicts between humankind and nature, improve quality of life, encourage basic values of community life and call for the recovery of the existing territory and recognition of cultural diversity. Therefore rehabilitation means seeking a point of balance between technical aspects,  heritage values and criteria of social justice, economic efficiency and preservation of the environment.

Rehabilitation of a building calls for an overview of the territory in which it is set and an understanding of its relation with the territorial and urban context. To this end, studioazue has proposed a mechanisms for the community’s active participation in decision-making.