Najjar & Najjar Architects, a design company based in Beirut and Vienna, has developed IRIS pods ‒ eye-like kinematic structures that would be installed along the coast of Beirut, at the very line where the land ends and the Mediterranean Sea begins.
The IRIS pods would generate wave energy via buoys dipped in the sea, which would then power fishermen’s homes. The pods would also provide a place to stay, at least for a short while, for the fishermen community and other visitors who want to experience the relaxing surroundings on Beirut’s coast, away from the urban city.
“ This is a conceptual study as part of a broader research we are doing at the American University of Beirut. The installation is a 1/5 model with the purpose to test the impact on the kinetic structure and to demonstrate its relevance as a cultural statement in the first place. Furthermore, scientific studies are in progress and developed by the Department for Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut,” Karim Najjar told Offshore WIND.
IRIS is an attempt at resisting the expropriation of Beirut’s open coastline returning the sea back to the fishermen and the local habitants of the Ras Beirut district. Through architecture, it materializes the threshold condition between two very distinct, yet concomitant entities: the dense city and the open sea.
Waves transform the kinematic structure into an experience of place and to harvest energy for the fishermen community.