Scarscapes. An Adaptive Design Strategy Beyond Abandonment for Tripoli's Railway Infrastructure.

Having been always recognised by its crossing of culture, history, and innovation, Lebanon was famous for its once-thriving railway network which marked it as a forward-thinking nation in the Middle East. After its complete stop due to the civil war, all of the stations within the country have been left abandoned, deteriorating with time as result of the architectural and urban neglect as well as the lack of cultural and historical heritage preservation. Among the railroad’s main remnants, The Tripoli Train Station stands today as a forgotten landmark within an increasingly fragmented urban fabric in the historical city. Tripoli is one of the most important cities not only in Lebanon but also in the Middle East, it has a rich and unique urban fabric with fascinating architecture spreading from its old historical centres passing through its souks and reaching its picturesque seaside. Tripoli represents a treasure trove of historical and modern sites, many of which have been victims of continuous war conflicts and instability and therefore left as abandoned and underutilised hidden gems. This neglect in such a significant city gave this particular Train Station an advantage in terms of revival opportunities though visionary proposals and agreements. Thus, the following thesis explores adaptive strategies investigating how architecture can reengage with abandoned ruins of the Lebanese infrastructure, by addressing urgent societal needs and urban demands while preserving the historical legacy and cultural memory of the site. The dissertation combines historical analysis, current observations, urban mappings, architectural studies, and finally reaching a dual-phase adaptive reuse proposal: The first intervention serves urgent community needs creating a realistic vision of the site during the tough situation of our present days, the second one, on the other hand, is a prospective approach envisioning various uses of the buildings within the site while allowing future transport reintegration. The primary purpose of this thesis is to develop a repurposing plan of the Train Station in Tripoli implementing contextual and socially responsive design strategies, in order to highlight the importance of recognizing such neglected sites and emphasise their roles as means for community regeneration and heritage reclamation.