From The Mountain to the Sea: Architectural Excursions in the Lebanese Landscape

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The monograph follows the work of L.E.FT Architects, mirroring a presentation of a selection of the offices Lebanese projects with an exploration of the geographic-historical narratives that have shaped Lebanons urban/rural divide and the socio-cultural and religious characteristics of its varied environments.

In the 1960s, Lebanons National Tourism Council promoted the slogan From the mountain to the sea as an advertisement of the countrys attractiveness and striking geographic characteristics. The slogan fostered an urban myth, proposing that in Lebanons overlapping winter and summer seasons a fortunate tourist might ski in the Faraya Mountains and then, after only an hours drive, follow that activity with a dip in the Mediterranean Sea. In Lebanons modernizing, post-colonial state, this mythologized geography was declared open for business: from the mountain resorts of the winter to the Mediterranean beaches of the summer. Soon, however, this frictionless landscape faltered, fracturing under the pressures of a long sectarian civil war, the subsequent period of reconstruction, and a series of local and regional religious conflicts. What remains is a fragmented, sectarian geographya perforated landscape containing pockets of hope and despair.

Through thirteen of L.E.FT Architects Lebanese projects, located across an east-west isoline running from the mountain to the sea, the monograph interrogates the heroic mythologies of Lebanons landscape, reading them against experiential narratives from specific moments and environments. The books structure interlaces representations of built work with revealing anecdotes, narrating stories of distress, but also striving to project moments of resilience in a whimsical architectural resolution that embodies both. The projects contained within this monograph are all sited within a region that has frequently been understudied or under-described in contemporary architectural discourse. Historically, within disciplinary conversations, its architecture has been positioned as belonging to an idealized distant past, or aestheticized through the lens of the supposed permanent trauma of the war. Intersecting with a diverse array of landscapes, communities, and programs, these thirteen projects provide exposure to the active architectural practices and conversations taking place within Lebanon today.

Author Bio

Ziad Jamaleddine is a co-founder of L.E.FT Architects (New York/Beirut). He received his Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 1995, where he won the Areen Award for excellence in design, and recived his M-Arch from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 1999. He is the recipient of the 2002 Young Architects Forum Award and the 2010 Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League of New York. Jamaleddine has taught at Cornell University, Upenn, MIT as part of the Aga Khan Program, and Yale as the Louis Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture for Spring 2011. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, where he coordinates Advanced Architecture Studio IV and teaches a seminar in the History & Theory sequence. Makram el Kadi is a co-founder of L.E.FT Architects (New York/Beirut). He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the American University of Beirut in 1997 and his M-Arch from Parsons School of Design in 1999. He is the recipient of the 2002 Young Architects Forum Award and the 2010 Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League of New York. El Kadi taught architecture studio with Steven Holl at Columbia University's GSAPP, Cornell University, and MIT, where he served as the Aga Khan visiting Lecturer. He has been part of the Yale faculty from 2009 to 2012 and was the Louis Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture for Spring 2011. He currently teaches Architecture at the American University of Beirut. L.E.FT was the 2009 Finalist in MoMA's Young Architects Program, a member of Architectural Record's 2010 Design Vanguard, and a finalist for the 2010 Iakov Chernikhov Prize. Among the built projects by L.E.FT are the award-winning Moukhtara Mosque (2017) and the Beirut Exhibition Center (2011). L.E.FT's research work has been presented at Oslo Architecture Triennale (2016), Milan Architecture Triennale (2019), and Sharjah Architecture Triennale (2019). L.E.FT is currently developing several institutional, cultural, and religious projects in the Middle East, North Africa, and the US.