Tag Archives | heritage

Will Lycée Abdel Kader Simply Disappear?

By Rami on November 7, 2018 in Architecture, Beirut, Culture, Social

Lycée Abdel Kader, one of the most reputable schools in Beirut that was established over 100 years ago and a prominent landmark in Beirut, is now at risk of simply disappearing without leaving a trace.

How it all started

To those who are out of the loop of what is happening with the school, here’s a brief summary:

In 1985, Hariri Foundation bought the school and managed along with the Agence pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Étranger (AEFE) and the Mission Laïque Française (MLF). And until 2005, the school AND the land it is built on were effectively under the control of the late PM Rafic Hariri so there was no need to worry about rent.

After his assassination, his wealth was eventually split among his children, and Lycée Abdel Kader’s land ended up going to his girl Hind while his wife Nazik was controlling the Hariri Foundation. So basically Hind got a piece of land that in unable to generate any profit in its current situation, and it turned out she had big plans in mind. That’s why a couple of years ago it was confirmed that she wants to start a project in it and asked the school to seek another location.

No one exactly knows what’s coming next for the school, some claim she aims to build a new mall there even though the area is so crowded already, and others say it will turn into residential towers. Keep in mind that the school has a very old castle within its premises, and no one also knows if it will be preserved or not.

The alternatives

Lycée Abdel Kader is one of several institution that shaped the identity of Beirut, that’s why the suggestions to move it outside the city were rejected by all stakeholders. On the other hand, Beirut has no big spaces left to accommodate a school as large as LAK with all the facilities they need.

Due to that, people in charge thought of renting one of the Makassed schools buildings in Beirut since some of them are currently vacant and big enough for their needs, but they were faced by the Makassed Alumni who refused to have the identity of their old school changed.

This is where things started getting problematic for the Hariri Foundation, and with very little options left they apparently discussed renting the Antonine school campus in Baabda which caused a big fuss yesterday.

One possible alternative now is to completely shut down the school in case they fail to find a place to relocate the school to. And I can’t imagine how it will be like for the students and their parents.

What can be done

It is good that people are starting to express their outrage at the thought of having the school shut down or relocated, and some politicians on twitter are doing the same, but it is not enough. The Eden Bay resort was built in Ramlet El Bayda despite all the legal actions that were taken against it and the movements that people organized in the street. That project was much more controversial since it was built on a seaside that is supposed to be a public space, but it still managed to see the light! So keyboard warriors on twitter will definitely not be able to change the fate of Lycée Abdel Kader.

On the other hand, what should be done is to channel all the energy and effort into establishing pressure groups to force the Municipality of Beirut to buy the land instead in order to keep the school in its place. It might sound like a long-shot but still worth a try.

Otherwise, I personally think that the only practical and affordable solution is for people in Makassed to accept hosting Lycée Abdel Kader because it would be a win-win situation. Makassed have many vacant buildings and are currently going through a financial crisis, so I don’t see a reason for not accepting to rent some of their properties.

What I am afraid will happen

We got used to the government failing us every single day. In order to brighten their image, the ministry of culture issued a statement today denying granting any permit to demolish the school buildings, but we all know that real estate developers can do whatever they please as long as they’re backed by our ~~khara kleib~~ awesome politicians.

I also really wouldn’t be surprised if the Hariri Foundation turned out to be just buying time in order to later tell their students they are out of options and they must search for another school. I know this comparison is unfair, but can you imagine the same happening to institutions like the AUB or USJ for example?

We all acknowledge Hind Hariri has all the right to do whatever she likes with her private property, but the school burned itself into the collective memory of Beirut, and what’s happening will not only affect the current students but also the whole city. If she is insisting on proceeding with her deal, then I hope someone comes up with a solution to preserve the land and the rights of all parties.

Raising Awareness on Modern Architectural Heritage in Lebanon

By Rami on March 13, 2018 in Architecture

Banque Libano-Française recently started a blog to engage people with the progress made to build their new headquarter in Charles Helou area, and they’re taking advantage of it to also raises awareness on modern architectural heritage in Lebanon by talking about 12 significant landmark projects which influenced the architecture scene in the country between 1926 and 1997.

As part of this project, the Director of the Arab Center for Architecture George Arbid will be sharing interesting notes, pictures, plans, sketches and studies once every week on a certain building/structure around town.

So far they covered Charles Corm in Achrafieh, Saint-Georges Hotel, Carlton Hotel (demolished in 2008), and Starco building. The presented info are quite interesting and will certainly make you see the buildings that still exist nowadays from a really different perspective.

They still have 8 buildings to talk about and you can follow the series here.

Beirut Heritage Trail – 5,000 Years of Beirut’s History

By Rami on December 15, 2017 in History

Walking through Beirut Souks, you can’t but notice these medallions fixed into the ground at various spots around the streets. I never knew their purpose until a couple of weeks ago when I looked closely to notice that they have “Beirut Heritage Trail” engraved on them and that each one points to a different direction. So I googled them a bit and found these medallions actually link archaeological sites, historic public spaces and heritage buildings over a 2.5Km walking circuit around the Souks and Beirut downtown.

The circuit will start at the Beirut Souks, which retain the 2,500 year-old ancient street grid and Ottoman access gates, and incorporate several archeological remains including the Phoenico-Persian quarter, the city wall and moat, the restored Mamluk Zawiyat Ibn Iraq and Majidiya mosque. Among the sites featured in the trail are the Emir Munzer mosque, the Roman Baths, Riad El Solh Square and the Grand Theatre to name a few. Source

The project also consists of 50 site panels providing information about the historic places around the heritage trail, so I assume one can learn a great deal about the history of Beirut by following the marks. I personally only know the history of very few sites in downtown, so I will be soon trying to make that walk especially that my kid loves to ride his scooter around the area there.

On Fouad Boutros highway

By Rami on May 11, 2013 in Lebanon

According to an article on Now Lebanon and another on Beirut Report, it seems like the post I wrote back in March on the new highway in Achrafieh connecting Hazmieh to Charles Helou is true, since the project has already been given a green light and works might start in a month or so.

And ever since the news was spread, “Save Beirut Heritage” has been opposing the project as it requires destroying 28 old buildings. But how true is that?

fouad boutros highway 1

I mean let’s assume each building has only 3 to 4 families living in it, then the government should currently be in the process of buying a minimum of 90 apartments in order to later destroy them and be able to go forward with the project. But 90 isn’t a small number, that’s 90 families who can easily coordinate a protest or at least appear on TV to oppose being evacuated from their apartments, which is not the case right now.

That means the number of buildings is either much lower than 28, and therefore a large chunk of the highway will be underground, or the government is offering a really large sum of money for the families and they’re simply happy with it.

And let’s be real for a moment, the highway might be seriously endangering Beirut’s heritage, but old buildings in the areas of Achrafieh and Mar Mkhayel are rapidly disappearing anyway to make way for high rise towers! So are we over-reacting a little bit here..?

Anyway, I personally don’t really see the need to connect Charles Helou with Hazmieh through a highway passing by Achrafieh, since there’s already another highway connecting Hazmieh to Karantina which is pretty close to Charles Helou!

A new highway to be constructed in Achrafieh

By Rami on March 5, 2013 in Lebanon

According to this article in The Daily Star today, there’s a new highway that is set to be constructed in the near future in Achrafieh linking Hazmieh to Charles Helou and passing by Mar Mkhayel. The project plan has been there since the 70’s but was delayed because some residential buildings have to be demolished, and the Council for Development and Reconstruction is now set to go forward with it starting this summer to help reduce the traffic in and out of Achrafieh.

Some activists however are opposing the project and trying to suggest some alternatives to avoid demolishing of old buildings and preserve the streets that might be affected by this highway. You can read more about it here.

This is definitely not an accurate drawing of the highway, but I’m trying to imagine how will it look like. I guess it will start somewehre in Alfred Naccache, passing by the small bridge in Charles Malek, and then straight to Charles Helou.

Yet another old house gets demolished in Beirut

By Rami on February 1, 2013 in Lebanon

I really felt sad when I learned this old house in Ain El Mraisseh is being demolished as I know some of its previous owner (The Nsouli’s), and I know how beautiful it was from the inside.

But then again, at a time when the government has no plans to acquire these old houses and protect them, you just can’t expect people to keep preserving heritage buildings while the real estate market in the country is booming.

Interior photos of Amin Maalouf’s house

By Rami on January 3, 2013 in Lebanon

Habib Battah has some nice photos over at his blog Beirut Report showing the interior of Amin Maalouf’s house in Badaro which is currently being demolished by Kettaneh Group after getting the necessary approval from minster Gaby Layoun.

I personally have mixed over this whole thing. As much as I hate to see such old houses going, I also feel for their owners who probably can no longer maintain them and could really make use of the money after selling them to some real estate development company, regardless of how ugly the resulting tower will be, and how affordable the apartments will be to the average Lebanese.

Should we preserve every single Phoenician ruin in Beirut?

By Rami on June 27, 2012 in Lebanon

The news about the sudden destruction of the ancient Phoenician port in Beirut has flooded the news and the Lebanese blogosphere over the last couple of days. Everybody seems to be against move and some are even asking the minister of culture Gaby Layoun to resign over it.

But let’s be real for a second, downtown Beirut all lay over Phoenician ruins and much more! At the end, it was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times over its 5,000 year history, so the least you can find is ruins WHEREVER you dig around the city! Should we preserve everything we find and halt all construction works for ever? And let’s assume that we’ve succeeded in actually preserving them and turning these site into touristic places, will Khaleeji people be interested in visiting them? In fact, I see them enjoying places like Zaitounay Bay much more than the ancient ruins near the Grand Serail!

Still, don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling to erase our history, but why can’t we be more practical? I know the developers at the Phoenician port did wrong by suddenly demolishing that Phoenician port, but why for instance didn’t we give them the option to maybe move that port to another place instead of totally halting their plans?

Beirut Theater will be demolished

By Rami on December 19, 2011 in Lebanon

I heard about the demolishing of Beirut Theater located in Ain El-Mrayseh earlier in November but coudn’t find any piece of news online to support the story until today morning.

I found this post by Marie-Josée Rizkallah over at “L’espace lunaire” blog about the matter, and a petition is now online calling for a sit-in in front of the Lebanese ministry of culture to save the theater by labeling it as a cultural heritage. Being real, I guess we all know these stuff never worked and the theater will eventually be demolished.

Anyway, a friend of mine told me that Beirut Theater is now open free for people who want to exhibit their work or performance until it completely closes down anytime soon.

Beirut city center to be demolished in the few coming days?

By Rami on July 27, 2011 in Lebanon

I just saw this post on Facebook about the possibility of demolishing Beirut City Center (also known as “the egg”) over the next few coming days.

“The egg” was designed by Philippe Karam in 1965 and served as a cinema for a short time before the eruption of civil war in Beirut. For some reason it survived the demolition works during Beirut’s central district reconstruction in the 90’s and remained standing until some artists started using it in the last few years to exhibit their work inside it. And now, rumors has it that it will demolished very soon.

I’m not sure I’ll be sad to see it going, though if it were to me I would have renovated it instead, but I’m certain it will feel awkward to pass by the martyr’s square and not see the egg laying there at the end of the street.

Thank you @SeenKaf

Update:

Solidere denied any plans to demolish the egg anytime soon. They even claimed they’re against the demolition and that the dome will be integrated in the new design.

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