Personal Project 2: The Memory Station

The Mar Mikhayel train station used to be one of the main stations in Beirut for the Lebanese rail road that travelled to the Bekaa all the way to the borders with Syria as of 1895. The Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) ceased its operations and since then the remaining stations have been neglected. I decided to recreate the Mar Mikhayel Station  (or EDL station) as a Memorial for the Beirut Blast (August 2020) and use the trains as means to travel back in time and revisit Beirut's golden ages.
Hand Sketch of the Lot

source: https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/5/1/a-trip-back-in-time-on-lebanons-disappearing-railway/

Currently, the land contains two abandoned hangars and the neglected train station. Physical access to the lot is prohibited as it is protected by the government.

The brain's memory system served as an inspiration to create the base structure of the train station. The entrance to the building would be through the amygdala (which is responsible for processing memories (induced by fear and emotions) and would lead to the underground platform through a long corridor mimicking the Hippocampus (which is responsible for retrieving declarative and special relationship memories). 

The amygdala shaped as a long corridor would be used as a commemorial to the victims of the August Blast. Sketches of their portraits will be hung along the entrance as well as other art pieces created by various Lebanese Artists. The choice of material for the corridor walls would be broken glass, to allow natural light to filter in light as well as trigger the passenger's emotions regarding the aftermath of the Blast. Picking up on project 1, the passengers would enter the train cabins equipped by interactive windows. These smart windows would display images of the old Mar Mikhayel area as the train leaves the station in order to reveal the multiple architectural layers of the site.

AutoCAD Render (NE Isometric view)

Section Render using AutoCAD (view from Charles Helou Hwy)

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