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Desperately seeking: one Architect for Beirut

Catherine Deshayes

A World Class House of Arts and Culture in central Beirut is being planned by the Lebanese and Omani Governments, and they are seeking an Architect.

Beirut has long been defined by its place at the forefront of creativity in the region, particularly in the fields of publishing, visual and digital arts.

However, the lack of a large and appropriate venue for important exhibitions, as well as a dearth of support from the public sector, has stunted cultural growth.

Now, the new House of Arts and Culture is slated to be built on a 3,785-square-meter plot in the downtown Ghalghoul district, providing a hub for cultural events and gatherings.

The Sultanate of Oman has given the Culture Ministry a £10 million grant for equipment and construction, and the Government is running a competition to find an Architect to design the new centre.

Culture Minister Tamam Salam discussed the design competition for the project at the headquarters of the Engineers and Architects Syndicate in Jnah earlier this week.

"The competition is being held under the auspices of the International Union of Architects, he said.

"Lebanese citizens have been dreaming about this center for decades, and the centre would be the first of its kind in Beirut."

The project's planners envision the new centre as a forward-thinking, independent public institution. It will be a venue for a host of exhibitions, concerts, classes and related events.

Digital media, interactivity and programming that will attract younger Lebanese are also top priorities.

The competition guidelines state that, ‘Visits to the centre should be an enchantment and a pleasure and rigidity, routine, conformity, static are to be banned from its functioning and the presentation of its activities.'

The guidelines call for a design that is environmentally friendly, with landscaping and greenery both in and outdoors, to reinforce the feeling of the fusion between the center and the outside world.

There is space allotted for multiple exhibition spaces, an 800-seat multi-purpose auditorium, a small cinema, a specialized documentation center and a 250-seat flexible performance hall. Audiovisual and computer studios for youth and visiting artists are also scheduled.  

The plan also calls for some income-generating activities, such as operating a cafeteria, cultural shops and space rentals for a tailored list of receptions and some performances.

A trust fund to reduce the burden of the budget for operations and investments is also a possibility, in line with similar practices at comparable art institutions worldwide.

The first-prize winner would take home £50,000 and be contracted for the architectural conception of the project. The second and third-place designs would win cash prizes too.

The design will be selected through an open, anonymous competition.

Registration closes on September 29, 2008, and the deadline for entries is February 10, 2009.

The nine-member jury, comprised of stakeholders and international architecture experts, will announce the results in Beirut between March 16^th and 20th, 2009.

Further information about the project can be found online at www.darbayrut.org.

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