<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="469"><tbody><tr><td class="articletitle" colspan="3" height="6" valign="bottom"><p class="articletitle" align="left">in Beirut, the Show Pauses, then Goes On</p>
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<p class="articleDate">January 31, 2007</p><p align="left">"Beirut:
a thousand times destroyed, a thousand times reborn" is a saying
popular enough to have once graced the posters of Lebanon's national
airline. Except for the bombing of Beirut airport and important
infrastructural arteries, however, forthcoming architecture projects in
the capital city have emerged unscathed from the recent tension between
Lebanon and Israel.</p>
<p align="left"> Prior to
the Lebanon-Israel conflict, Beirut's most comprehensive rebirth was
begun under a reconstruction campaign spearheaded by the country's late
prime minister, al-Hariri, through Solidere, The Lebanese Company for
Development and Reconstruction of the Beirut City Center. Established
in 1994 following a 15-year- long civil war, Solidere commissioned
leading architects to give a new face to the city, once feted as the
Paris of the Middle East. </p>
<p align="left"> The
plethora of Solidere-sponsored projects includes the city's new marina,
designed by Steven Holl and L.E.FT and for which excavation just began;
completion is expected by 2009. The project is overwhelmingly
significant for a nation of seafaring merchants: It is conceived as an
urban beach of public spaces; its centerpiece building, which will
include apartments, a yacht club, shops, and restaurants, comprises
staggered volumes to recall the lapping of waves.</p>
<p align="left">
The London-based landscape design firm Gustafson-Porter is also playing
a large role in the Solidere operation with Shoreside Walk, a redesign
for a stretch of former shoreline, and the Garden of Forgiveness, a
green space emphasizing the common ties of people seeking
reconciliation after civil strife. Neil Porter, a director at
Gustafson-Porter, speaks with passion about working in the city: "While
it may be an environment where money is not so easily found, awareness
of essential principles such as design integrity and ecological
sustainability make working in Beirut a challenging and rewarding
experience." The Garden may take on new meaning as cross-border
tolerance is debated; meanwhile, the recent spate of violence has
delayed realization, perhaps to 2009.</p>
<p align="left">
Jean Nouvel, much acclaimed in the Middle East for his Institute of the
Arab World Building in Paris, is the architect of a cutting-edge
multi-purpose development currently being built in downtown Beirut. The
$200 million complex, due to be completed in 2008, is expected to
become an icon, its 40-story campanile-like tower soaring above the
city center. Limestone-colored like the country's historic
architecture, the tower will be sheathed in perforated aluminum
shutters, recalling the latticework of the traditional Arab house that
also inspired the IMA entrance facade.</p>
<p align="left">
Not all design luminary–linked projects have been commissioned by
investors like Solidere. Vincent James Associates Architects (VJAA) has
designed a soon-to-be completed student center for the American
University in Beirut, a century-old institution that is also the patron
of a building by Zaha Hadid that will open in 2008. "It's an
opportunity to deal with critical environmental and
energy-saving-related issues, while catering to the needs of a really
dynamic society and reflecting the lifestyles generated by the
Mediterranean climate," VJAA principal Jennifer Yoos, says of the
project. The VJAA design features carefully articulated masses
interspersed with open courtyards to capture hillside breezes, and it
provides students with a mix of common spaces, including the rooftop
terraces that define the local quality of life. </p>
<p align="left">
Many of the heavyweight architect-planners working in Beirut, such as
Boston-based Hashim Sarkis, currently working on TK, and L.E.FT
founders Makram el-Kadi, Ziad Jamaleddine, and Naji Moujaes, have
deep-rooted ancestral ties to Lebanon. And although their designs have
weathered the most recent storm, like the rest of their resilient
compatriots, they're holding their breath for fear of renewed political
instability while engaging in that quintessentially Lebanese tradition
of awakening the phoenix. </p>
<p class="authorCredit" align="left"><em>Seif El Rashidi</em></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><a href="http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070131beirut.asp">http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070131beirut.asp
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