Design intentions
IS IT THE PILL THE SOLUTION FOR EVERYTHING? Surrounded by high buildings with mixed functions, I create order by generating a void that brings the public space and put it near the site, on the site, on the building. The external volumes are being minimized. I create an urban landscape. The greatest achievement is to build a large-scale public building considering human scale.

Technical data
The forum is made by two volumes: an underground one,which follows the natural angle of the plot, with functions that dont need light( black box, workshops, parking) and a linear volume above with foyers, library, exhibitions space, classrooms and cafeteria on top. Those are linked by an interior circulation an an exterior one,having a permanent connection interior-exterior. The forum is integrated into the Mediterranean area by the underground volume, the terraces, the material(limestone), the idea of garden and-the most important- the permanent relation with light trough mediation from light to shadow (loggia, small openings in the walls).

Project team
stud.arch. Ana-Mihaela Despa project diploma The answer for a possible host of the Universal Forum of Cultures in Beirut, Lebanon.