Julian Conte

The conflict from 2006 has left Lebanon in a fractured and desperate state, with rubble and rock scattered in fields soaked in blood, spilled from the undeserving. But life can be reaped from the ashes of what once was, culminating in my idea of a protective cemetery where the dead can be put to rest and the living can be comforted by that very act that had been lost in the fire of war. The Lands In Between gives people a chance to regain the tradition of burials, religion and community while still being protected by the lurking dangers just outside the gates.

The Lands In Between rests on Tyre's outskirts and farmlands, out of the unbiased scope of conflict, but how to the civilians of Lebanon escape the crosshairs and seek safety? The partnering piece to my idea is Semblance, a movable casket designed to revive lost burial traditions for recoverable bodies. This apparatus, made from scrap materials and components, can open a gateway for the people of Lebanon to use when burying their loved ones, adapting its usage to their religious processes, and allow them to gain some comfort in their darkest times.

War ravages a scorched no mans land once home, ringing gunshots and death to fear around every corner. The traditions of what once was has been lost, buried under the relentlessness of savage overlords, endlessly engaged in a brutal tug of war until victory is there's, no matter the lives and homes they stand on while grasping for the end of the rope.

1:1 scaled physical model of the Semblance project; utilises scrap materials like off-cut wood panels, bicycle wheels, fence posts and handlebars as its main medium, seeing as these types of materials are likely to be found in a war torn country, rather than pristine ones. Can fit and support bodies in the foetal position. A bag can be attached to hold basic supplies like clothes, water & food, shovels and blankets.

Everything is connected to one and the same; time, money, politics, sovereignty, location, transport, ideas, living, dying - everything touches a moment in this web of constructed reality. War is the fire to that web. This diagram explores how conflict spreads and plagues Lebanon's different social and individual elements, all stemming from the 2006 war. This very diagram was the base for my ideas, allowing me to focus my project's direction on solving the loss of burial traditions and the many areas it touches.