Beit Beirut Museum and Urban Cultural center
Beit Beirut is located in the heart of Beirut along Damascus road on Sodeco Crossing, along what used to be the “green line”, the line of separation of both parts of Beirut during the Lebanese war that started in 1975. Originally a residential building built by the Barakat family with two imminent architects of the thirties “Youssef Aftimos” and “Fouad Kozah”, the building has great architecture values representing the start of modernity in Beirut in the style known as the “Yellow Houses”. Occupied by snipers during the war period, the building is covered with the war traces, scars, and installations. It was used as a snipers den for over 15 years, like many buildings along the green line. The building was expropriated by Beirut Municipality in 2003 in order to be transformed into a museum and a cultural center dedicated to the memory of the city of Beirut.
The architectural design applied in the revival of Beit Beirut is based on the approach of Preservation Adaptation and Reuse. All the traces of time, war, and life spreading over 92 years (1924 date of construction) have been preserved as clear reminders of the memory of Beirut, and these traces constitute the “permanent museum collection”. The original structure has been reinforced and adapted to the new use. The new added complementary building is of contemporary language and adapted to the environmental challenges. We always considered the building as a living being of 92 years with wounds scars and missing parts the approach was surgical stitching cauterising healing the wounds, using prostetic elements when needed prostetics of functional structural language, the prostetics gives a new life while marking the absence.
“Beit Beirut” a living cultural center dedicated to the memory and the history of Beirut. It is the first public space designed to help achieving a clear memorial duty towards the capital and the country; it is a unique state of the art tool accessible to researchers, and open to all citizens eager to learn about the memory of Beirut and help to preserve it. The memorial process is carried through a strong interaction a dialog and debate, between the traces and remaining, the building, the city, the researchers, and the citizens. A long and complex process achieving over the years a Memorial duty. Beit Beirut will encompass a museum as well as a research and documentation center.
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