[LCM Events] Aga Khan Program at MIT Lecture

[Fadi P. Kanaan]

Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT

Lecture Announcement

 

Monday, March 14

 

Architecture in Lebanon: from Modernism to

Contemporary Trends

 

Dr. Elie George Haddad

Lebanese American University. Byblos, Lebanon

 

Lecture is at 5:30 pm in MIT room 3-133 and it is free and open to the
public. 

MIT Map : http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=6-120&mapsearch=go

 

For information call 617 253 1400 or e-mail akpiarch at mit.edu or on the web
http://web.mit.edu/akpia/www/

 

Abstract

 

This paper will present a survey of the development of architecture in
Lebanon, one of the foremost modernizing countries in the Arab world, which,
after its independence in 1943, witnessed a process of renewal in which
architecture played a visible role as a mediator of positive political and
economic change. One of the main questions remains about the relationship
between such changes, no matter how positive, and the cultural climate in
which they occur. Do they appear as "imports", foreign to the context in
which they are projected? Or are they normal extensions of a historical
process that affects the whole world in phases?

The importation of styles seems to be, unfortunately the case of many
countries that fall now under the categorization of "third-world" countries,
where the existence of "modern" forms did not happen concurrently with a
general level of industrialization, economic development and individual
emancipation. In such cases, new forms appear within "traditional" contexts
more as samples of another way of life, imported for their apparent promises
of fast emancipation. It is in this sense that we may understand the
enthusiasm with which traditional societies initially welcome the arrival of
new colonizers that soon remodel the traditional landscape in their own
urban and visual language.

 

In this presentation, I will discuss the process of dissemination in the
specific case of Lebanon, which attempted to develop its own architectural
identity after its independence in 1943. I will specifically discuss three
moments in the developments of architecture in Lebanon: the first phase,
influenced by the process of modernization around the world [1950-1975], the
second phase in the midst of the civil war [1975-1990] and the third phase
after the end of the civil war [1990-present] showing examples of the
different realizations that developed throughout this period. Within the
scope of this presentation I will be discussing examples of the contemporary
architectural "scene" in Beirut, and their effect, if any, of the
development of a new direction in architecture.

Bio

Elie Haddad studied architecture at the American University of Beirut and
the Boston Architectural Center [1982-88] then received his Masters from the
University of Cincinnati [1991] and  his PhD in Architecture from the
University of Pennsylvania [1998].

 

He has been a full time faculty member at the Department of Architecture at
the  Lebanese American University since 1994 and was appointed Chair of the
Department  in September 2000.

 

Dr. Haddad  has been active in academic circles, where he has participated
in a number of international conferences, organized local conferences, the
latest being  a symposium on Contemporary Discourses in Architecture in May
2004 in Beirut, and published articles on architectural theory and urbanism.

Among his publications:

Projects for a Competition: The Souks of Beirut, 1994

forthcoming publication in Urban Design International, issue 9:3, Fall 2004

Beyrouth : Reconstruire la ville apres la guerre civile

in Faces, Journal of the Institute of Architecture at the University of
Geneva, Issue # 56, Autumn 2004

Against Reification: Re-reading Manfredo Tafuri

in Datutop 24, Journal of Tampere University of Technology

The Realization of the Beautiful: On Henry van de Velde's Aesthetic Theory

in Fabrications, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians,
Australia and New Zealand, Vol. 13, No.1, June 2003

On Van de Velde's Manuscript on Ornament

in Journal of Design History, Oxford University Press, Vol. 16, No.2, 2003

-- 

Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
       
MIT, 10-390
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139  USA

Phone: 617-253-1400
Fax: 617-258-8172

Aga Khan Program Web Site: http://web.mit.edu/akpia/www/

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