Quote:
Originally Posted by fidelio  
This is a picture of the cluster of buildings destroyed, posted yesterday in L'orientlejour.
Apart from the synagogue, the three residential building are of a common charcter found all over the place in Beirut, and buildings from that period are not an uncommon sight although they are getting rare. From what i an tell from the pictures, i find it pretty hard to restore those buildings.
However, Bernard Khoury, (architect who designed B018, Centrale, Yabani and other buildings) had a clever solution for his "Centrale" building straight out of the textbooks of Solidere where if any building from that period that is in danger of collapse and that the owner wants to preserve, a metallic structure should be fixed on its facades as a structural reinforcement. Here's the result: 
Solidere probably owns those buildings and the lot on which they were built so it's pretty logical for them to "clean" the lot and build more square meters. |
Its quite sad to the the high rises that contain absolutely no "soul" and charm in the background :(
The city is loosing its character for sure, Anything can be restored Fidelio, they have restored older and more damaged buildings,
The danger is the "MONOPOLY" that this govt and previous govts have created in many sectors, mainly SOLIDERE that has the entire rights in the heart and core of Beirut.
I remember how many people fought the destruction of our heritage at the beginning and how many valuable streets and buildings were erased to let the sharks build the huge towers for only $$$$
Sad moment in our modern history ... we never anyway knew how to build a beautoful country, what remains old in Beirut is the leftovers of the Turks and French ...
We built Dora mountain and alikes ...