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Youssef Tohmé: The Latest Architecture and News

Beirut Architecture City Guide: 20 Contemporary Projects to Explore in the Lebanese Capital

August 19, 2022

Situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Beirut is one of the oldest cities in the world that has been shaped throughout its 5,000 year history by Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, and the Ottomans. The Lebanese capital has been for decades a cosmopolitan city and a focal cultural and geographical link between Europe and the Middle East.

Often labeled as a resilient city, Beirut has been subject to numerous devastating events throughout its history, from a brutal 15-year civil war to one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts in history. Nowadays, the city boasts a skyline full of contrasts, where contemporary buildings rise alongside Ottoman, Roman, and Byzantine ruins. Its architecture, along with its renowned cuisine, distinguished night life, archaeological sites, and hospitable people have reclaimed it as a sought-after touristic destination.

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The New 'Context' in Architecture: Learning From Lebanon

April 05, 2013

Context in architecture has become a subject bloated with discussion and debate over the years. And, as a matter of fact, it has come to matter very little in its formal and typological sense. Take, for instance, the fluid forms that compose Zaha Hadid’s hundreds of projects around the world, or Frank Gehry’s exploding compositions seen from South America to the unmistakable Guggenheim in Bilbao. The form architecture takes in these cases, and countless others, is in itself a deliberate disregard towards context in its literal sense.

But is this disregard for context a mistake? Observers would often say so, though I would like to disagree. It has become frequent that projects like these, largely formal and not politely accommodating their historic surrounding, actually take greater interest in social urban issues that have a direct impact on the city dwellers. Quite simply, successful architecture today is one that serves society culturally and practically, addressing tangible problems of 21^st century cities and dealing with context in a solution-oriented manner, going beyond aesthetics (whose value is only temporary) and into future-invested urbanism. Case-in-point? My hometown: Beirut, Lebanon.

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