[LCM Articles] Lebanese old houses: our memories in peril

[Nehme Lebbos]

http://www.iloubnan.info/Lebanese-old-houses-our-memories

by Joëlle Sabella

While the entire world is rediscovering and highlighting its 
architectural heritage, the Lebanese are once again distinguishing 
themselves, this time by shamelessly destroying their superb traditional 
neighborhoods. Constantly higher and more lavish towers are replacing 
the ancient Lebanese houses, a symbol of our collective memory. And as 
property developers go greedier and politicians more careless, the 
beautiful old houses of the early twentieth century slowly and 
irreversibly disappear. “In Lebanon, peace has been more devastating 
than war”, comments Fadlallah Dagher, a member of APSAD (the Association 
for Protecting Natural Sites and Old Buildings in Lebanon) executive 
committee. Is it still possible to reverse the trend? And what are the 
possible solutions? Some answers are given below.

To date, there is no official survey indicating the exact number and 
location of ancient buildings in Beirut, and more generally in Lebanon. 
It is however estimated that they represent around 2.5% of real estate. 
Furthermore, a study prepared by the APSAD in 1996, upon the request of 
then Minister of Culture, Michel Eddé, mentions the existence of 1,019 
houses built between 1850 and 1940 in the areas surrounding the 
capital’s heart (Zokak el-Blatt- Basta- Sanayeh- Sodeco- Gemmayze…). The 
Ministry then intended to rehabilitate “the most interesting buildings” 
and to create coherent architectural blocks representing Beirut as in 
the ninetieth century. Unfortunately, as soon as it was published, the 
APSAD list aroused a wave of discontent, not only among politicians and 
property developers, but most of all, among the owners who lacked 
interest in preserving their own residences.

Why are Lebanese so indifferent?

For an outsider, the Lebanese’ attitude towards their own architectural 
heritage may seem absurd. Serge Yazigi, a town-planner and the director 
of Majal (Academic Observatory for Construction and Reconstruction in 
Lebanon), tries to explain the phenomenon: “Unlike what happens abroad, 
we notice that in our country, the politicians and the property 
developers are equally interested in real estate speculations. On top of 
that, the houses’ owners have no meaningful economic resources and are 
therefore tempted by the enticing offers that are made to them. All 
these factors suppress the lobbying of the civil society, which finds 
itself unable to halt the real estate pressure”.

What makes things even more difficult, not to say impossible, is the 
absence of any relevant legal framework. As a matter of fact, no public 
institution in Lebanon is in charge of managing the architectural 
heritage and defining the rules for its preservation and restoration. As 
for the law, it is, according to Serge Yazigi, “missing, incomplete and 
inadequately implemented”. Fadlallah Dagher explains: “In Lebanon, old 
historical buildings are covered by the 1933 Law of Antiquities, which 
was issued during the French mandate”. This law defines “antiquity” as 
“all products of human activity regardless of the civilization they 
belong to, dating before 1700”. Refusing to give up, the APSAD 
collaborated with Patrimoine Sans Frontières NGO (Heritage without 
borders) on a draft law covering, inter alia, the preservation and 
management of “an architectural fabric presenting a historical interest” 
(Article 1) as well as the owners’ indemnification. As expected, the 
draft law that was submitted to the Government in 2001 by the Minister 
of Culture, Ghassan Salame, was never put into practice.

Then what are the solutions?

In front of such indifference, it is still possible to protect our 
cultural heritage? APSAD Fadlallah Dagher seems disillusioned: “As far 
as the APSAD is concerned, our financial resources are rather limited 
since we mainly count on the contributions of our 120 members, all 
volunteers, and on a small subsidy from the Government. This being said, 
any activity aiming to protect the ancient houses should be based on 
protecting a coherent group of houses, and not on punctual actions here 
and there”. Serge Yazigi agrees with him and suggests the “urban 
regeneration” as a solution to the current situation. This means a 
global approach combining several complementary activities such as: 
frame conservation; the creation of green spaces in old neighborhoods; 
and the advertising of houses located in such neighborhoods through 
promotional activities targeting both Lebanese and tourists. “We have to 
put an end to the “tower complex”, concludes the director of MAJAL. Our 
aim is to increase the old houses’ economic value so that their owners 
consider them as a source of income and do not feel compelled to sell them”.

“Old memories make great peoples” is the APSAD motto. If the Lebanese 
long to be “a great people”, starting to preserve the “short memories” 
of the previous century should not be considered as a superfluous step. 
Better late than never!