Artistic creativity has always been an important component of life in Beirut. A buoyant city sitting on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, Beirut is at the same time an Arab city and a European one. In this sense, it is similar to many other Mediterranean harbours that have served as links between countries and cultures.
The concpet is based on two major guidelines :
– an urban base connecting the differents levels and smoothing the pedestrian flux, thus absorbing the visitors in the center.
– A volume appears above this space and frame views on the city, acting as a landmark on the scale of the city.
The treatment is inspired by the traditionnal moucharabiyeh, composed of wooden laser perforated panels filtering the light.