How, when, and by whom should the reconstruction projects be designed and implemented? What are lessons learned from the reconstruction of the city center after the civil war? With the looming danger of opportunistic gentrification, how might the reconstruction process alter the area’s use and the lives and livelihoods of its residents? How may it affect Beirut’s place in the world cultural heritage and global imagination? How can international organizations and academic institutions partner with local organizations for the redesign/rebuilding of the destroyed neighborhoods? How should the different affected neighborhoods be approached when it comes to redesign/rebuilding?

Speakers:
Elie Haddad | Lebanese American UniversityElie Haddad is a Professor of Architecture at the Lebanese American University, where he has been teaching since 1994. He has been serving as dean of the School of Architecture & Design, since 2012. Between 2009 and 2015, he received several fellowships to conduct research on modern architecture in Germany. Among his publications is the architectural survey titled A Critical History of Contemporary Architecture, published by Ashgate in 2014, which he co-edited with David Rifkind. He also published two books on architecture and urbanism, both in Arabic, in 2014. In addition to his academic work, Haddad is a frequent contributor to the local An-Nahar newspaper, with essays on architecture, urbanism, and cultural issues in general.

Mona Harb | American University of BeirutMona Harb is Professor of Urban Studies and Politics, and research director of the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut. She received her PhD in Political Science in 2005 from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques at Aix-Marseille (France). She is the author of Le Hezbollah à Beyrouth (1985-2005): de la banlieue à la ville (Karthala-IFPO, 2010), co-author of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut (Princeton University Press, 2013, with Lara Deeb,), co-editor of Local Governments and Public Goods: Assessing Decentralization in the Arab World (LCPS, 2015, with Sami Atallah), and co-editor of Refugees as City-Makers (AUB, 2018, with Mona Fawaz, Ahmad Gharbieh and Dounia Salamé), in addition to numerous journal articles, book chapters, and other publications. Her ongoing research investigates the public domain and urban vacancies, local governance and displacement, as well as urban activism and oppositional politics.

Moderator:
Mostafa Minawi | Cornell University

Panel Questions:
Elie Boutros | Cornell Alumni
Dana Muhsen | Cornell Alumni