Age of modernism

Andre Trad on the impact of modernism on Beirut's skyline:

Modern architecture appeared in Lebanon with the appearance of new building techniques and materials, which revolutionized the conception of building, and namely with the introduction of concrete in the1920's, which was first imported, then locally produced, after 1930.

The course of modernism in Lebanon thus appears to gradually take off in the late 1930's, with some delay compared to European modernism, with the adaptation of new technologies and spatial concepts in design.

The period of its golden age, where many constructions that exhibit a mature modernist spirit begin to appear was during the 1950's, after Independence, when the new nation and its new capital, began to capitalize on the new social, political and economic dynamics which turned Beirut into the avant-garde capital of the Arab world.

This golden age would continue in the 1960's with a new generation of local architects and engineers who further developed and consolidated the appropriation of modern architecture.

Picture: Abdallah Kahil's exhibition Ceci n'est pas Beyrouth