House of Arts & Culture
Beiruth, Lebanon
2009 (competition / honourable mention)
How do we design a building that may eventually be bombed?
The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al Said, decided to gift Lebanon with a Centre for the Arts and Culture. The building plot was located in downtown Beirut – the area most targeted by wartime bombings.
We chose to distance ourselves from warfare imagery – exquisitely represented by local architects – and to embrace the opposite. We clung to the belief that if we design an ultra delicate piece, maybe the population will feel that the building is something to protect and therefore say: “Please, don’t bomb this.” And that this simple gesture might constitute a step towards peace.
Program
- 1 white concrete
- 2 cooper blades
- 3 exhibition spaces
- 4 documentation center
- 5 administration
- 6 training rooms
- 7 cinemateque
- 8 cafeteria
- 9 acoustic shell
- 10 performance and conference hall
- 11 multimedia performance hall
- 12 movie theater
- 13 parking
Caravanserai evolution
Murex brandaris
Beiruth 1991
Project International competition for Beiruth House of Arts and Culture
Location Beiruth, Lebanon
Client Ministry of Culture
Program Cultural and Artistic Centre
Area 15200 m2
Project status Basic project
Award Honourable mention
Date 2009
Architecture Kaputt!
Architecture team Sérgio Antunes, Irene Bonacchi, Ana Brütt, Sofia Reis Couto, Rita Ferreira, Horácio Guedes, Kirill de Lancastre Jedenov, Filipe Moreira, Manuel Ribeiro, Filipe Alves, Luca Martinucci
Structural Engineering Mário Rui Marques Ferreira
HVAC & Passive Cooling Luís Paiva de Andrada
Acoustics Rodrigo Tomaz, DBLAB
Sustainability Eloísa Cepinha, Sustentare
Theatre Design consultants Flávio Tirone, Arsuna