The municipality of Beirut has initiated a project back in April 2010 to renovate that old house and turn it into a museum and an urban cultural center. [Link]
The house was a strategic spot for snipers during the 1975-1990 civil war.
I am all for restoring old buildings but looking at the state of that building and the amount of time and money it’s gonna take to fix it, I’d rather they destroy it and rebuild it.
they have been talking about restoring this building way before 2010… nothing will happen anytime soon, same like the egg.
sorry you feel that it is better to destroy it…even if you suggest rebuilding it…the Barakat Building should be restored
The point of the renovation is to preserve a historic building. If they needed to puild a new building, they can build it in another neighborhood.
I am not against renovation but I ask you this:
Which Beirut needs most? millions of dollars spent on restoring a fully destroyed about to crumble building or millions spent on enhancing roads and people’s everyday lives?
Najib,
Well said. What’s next excavating all of Beirut and preserving the heritage from 5,000 years? There has to be fine line between preserving culture and lunacy.
You might have a point Najib, but that isn’t necessarily true renovation is usually always cheaper than demolishing a building and building a new one.And I think that we have demolished enough traditional Lebanese building in downtown thanks to a “respectful” so called real estate company and should work on preserving what is left of our culture
If I am not mistaken, the project is funded by foreign sources so in effect, it should be built within whatever they schedule they put for it (at least I hope so!), and furthermore that way it does not cost us much to have it built. As for better streets, while that is a need, we definitely do need an extra museum in Lebanon! Especially if its something that tackles a theme that has to do with the Civil War.
Um. Wouldn’t it cost more to destroy it and rebuild it? I don’t think the difference in cost would be that great.
Also, I don’t believe funds used for this project, would be possible to be used for better roads. Our roads have always been crap, and will continue to be crap.
Did you see the pictures of the building on the website? It’s in terrible condition and it would definitely cost more to refix everything.
Any of the guys guessing if it should be restored or demolished and rebuild is an engineer here?
Najib! Are you kidding! Destroy this gem of a building?! That’s bordering on sacrilege! Najib! This is lowww..even for you! lol. This building is a relic..a memorial of times past. It must be kept and restored..if it’s knocked down it will totally lose its purpose..
Sorry I can’t judge a building off of one crappy picture.
Patrick,
Check the website for pictures.
Danielle,
Snipers used to position themselves in this building and kill people, where’s the purpose behind restoring it?
Again I am not saying destroy it because its meaningless, All I am saying is money should be better invested and priorities set right.
Leaving aside the importance of preserving heritage – perhaps of less interest to you Najib given that you chose to live in somewhere as blandly ahistorical as Kuwait – as Patrick pointed out, demolishing and rebuilding it isn’t exactly cheap either. THe building is being turned into a museum of Beirut’s history. It would be more than a little ironic to demolish part of that history in the process, wouldn’t it? As for moaning about money, which should never be the only factor determining the validity of a project, Beit Beirut is being funded in part by the French, the Paris Municipality, to be exact. There’s a website. Perhaps you might do a bit of research before pontificating in future?
Dre,
It is being funded in part by the Paris municipality, the part could be 10% and could be 90%. I did my research and it doesnt say how much it will cost us.
As far as preserving history, I would not want to keep a building where snipers used to kill people from. Same goes for the Holiday in hotel which is still standing for some reason even though it witnessed endless battles.
Anyway, maybe we need an engineer’s perspective on this to tell which costs more in this case but I say demolishing it is much easier.
Restoration usually costs a lot more than demolishing and building… especially with buildings in this state (although we can’t see the foundations or main pillars from the images). That’s just for the structure. I’m sure they will have to add facilities/utilities, etc that were not in the original building as well, such as air conditioning and more.
However, the restoration is not being funded by the government in any way, and even if it was, it would not be funded by the same ministry responsible for all our other problems, such as electricity, telecommunications, road works, etc.
Recently, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding certain buildings/ structures in Beirut, on which should be restored and which should be demolished. It’s difficult to draw the line in most cases.
As for Kuwait being historical bland, although through they don’t have the same long history we do in Lebanon, they demolished what little they did have… all their original homes/city was demolished, if they had left it they would have had a touristic area similar to some old towns Morocco is known for.
I do think that this is a beautiful building and I do think Lebanon needs more museums and cultural centers. If they do restore it, I hope they do a good job at it and use the space properly.
If they do not restore it, then I think we should have a green space (we do need more green area in Beirut) that could also be a memorial.
Since solidere became our new capital, i think we have no rights to give our opinions..this is to start with!!!!!!!
Najib, i do understand your point of view, but this project is funded by a third party (in this case france). As for the roads i think it’s either qatar or iran who are funding:p so no relation…as you know bridges are by ksa..bref it became a historical monument as you mentioned with true stories and a true history so it’s a good move to preserve it:)
isn’t it a beautiful piece of heritage architecture?
well the “egg” seems a bit weird in its surrounding with its current shape but this thing has a very high aesthetic value and it gives he place a more authentic look rather than the Times-Square-wanna-be look
Why in European countries restoring the inside of a building is not restricted as long as they don’t touch the facade while in Lebanon we just demolish everything?
I think najib here is just pulling our leg and trying to see our reaction towards these old places.
Why not put down the Martyrs Statue too? it looks ugly and full of wholes, maybe we’ll build a compound there that fills the whole area, this way the government can prevent any gatherings or protests as large as 8/14 march!
brilliant idea isn’t it?
Hisham,
I am not trying to pull anyone s leg by any means. I am all for preserving old buildings and our heritage but my whole point was that the place looks like the freaking luftwaffe bombed it and needs a wind blow before it falls to the ground.
Plus I did not say come up with a new building I said rebuild it as it was. How hard could it be?
The building, itself a historic monument, will stand as a reminder of the days of snipers and civil war. It’s nice how there will be a harmony between “a residential architecture” from 1924 and “an architecture of war” between 1975 and 1990. Demolishing the building will erase these two histories, even if it is rebuilt “as it was.” I am sure that qualified architects and engineers have studied the site and the state of the building and they know what they are doing with the renovation.
Najib,
If you are worried about snipers using that little building, please look at the nearby Sodeco Square towers.
@Najib, it should be noted that the cost of renovation is a donation. it is not the municipality of Beirut that is commissionning nor funding this project. although i agree with you that more money should be spent on enhancing roads and other life evolving projects, it is also critical to preserve historical monuments. a country is nothing without its history. and anyone with a minimum of architecture training can tell you that history is also read in buildings, and that we can’t simply destroy any historical building because we find it more convenient. i have to disagree on you with this, i am glad they are renovating this building.
It might also be a question of paperwork or rokhsa
Joe,
Good one even though I am saying the memory of snipers using this building to kill civilians is not one I would want to preserve.
Nevertheless, since the whole project is not funded by the Lebanese authorities, as most readers are saying, I don’t mind seeing it renovated. (I still did not find proof that Paris’ municipality is paying for the whole thing.)
Anyway, that was my whole point from the start, that we could have invested the money elsewhere if it were ours.
preserving is important to our history even if Snipers used it to kill people- we should not try to hide the past but try to learn from it as not to repeat it again.
Plenty of modern countries have preserved war memorials that may have been used for evil purposes in their time. It is the memory of the bad that may keep us from going back again.
MAybe this will be of interest
Barakat Building : A Public Green Space
http://goo.gl/ebmIQ
I think that renovating this building has an important cultural value, and it shows how Lebanese care for their heritage and memory! I fully agree with you regarding the expenses but i think that we can save money in many other issues in Lebanon where we can economize huge amounts of money while preserving our Beirut’s Heritage!
At the end, This is Ra2yeh , inta Choura2yak?
hey guys, im sn architecture student here in Lebanon.
i want to ask if i can find any information concerning the restoration techniques used to retore this building, i searched everywhere..