Jana Jmaile

Urbanism: Ex 1

Caption: Developing an idea shouldn’t repeal its experience

Criticizing the design effect of our environment

Cities consist of a very large number of people living in a relatively small amount of space. And
these people are divided into groups, each group of them create their own world by giving the
place they are hosting in part of its identity. Old souks are one of the most places that helps in
revealing the identity of the city by reflecting all its historical, social, and architectural
properties. Nowadays, these souks are losing their identity due to some new architectural
approaches called big stores.

Big stores design approach is the first step in removing the souks’ identity. They transformed
the livable experience of souk to a typical tour inside a building that sells people needs. They
are spaces enclosed with all types of boundaries: walls- ceiling- floor. And this type of design,
that doesn’t take in consideration the surrounded context properties (social, historical),
transform the building from a place to a space. But what attracts people to such spaces are the
low prices. Taking an example, the 2 big stores “Kroshina” and “Center Ville” in Al-Tall Tripoli.
They are 2 stores located directly before the old Tall souk, their low prices comparing to the
souks’ ones are absorbing people to fill their economical needs instead of their environmental
needs.

Although in the mentioned example the big store is somehow part of the souks’ longitudinal
path due to its location, but its lack of landscape boundaries is leading to its isolation. When we
mention the word “souk” we can directly imagine the sky’s reflection, colors of nature,
historical architecture, social interaction, vertical and horizontal properties… In contrast with
the big stores that are missing all these characteristics and ambiance. The attraction of people
with the lack of the needed ambiance properties, is affecting negatively on the city. The
fadedness of identity leads to damage in the feeling of belonging to the oriented place, which
make it harder to preserve the cultural and historical values.

The identity of any place covers the natural, geographical, and cultural aspects in life. And they
are formed in a long period of time with different urban conditions. So, losing them will affect
on the growth of city from its social, historical, and urban fabrics. And this can lead to a huge
shift in the city path.