oh my…this has got to be the new pinnacle of beirutmania. behold the versace damac tower, a fiercely glammed-up real estate concoction by dubai-based damac properties. this is one of many new multimillion dollar structures that redefine the lebanese capital’s downtown skyline, and in some cases also destroy its historic architectural legacy. construction of the 28-storey residential tower, two blocks down from the west marina in central beirut, has just started after it was halted for a few years. the building features 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom apartments and its main design feature is a rippling façade of glass that wraps around the exterior of each floor.

as the name implies, there’s a versace touch to this prestige project. its division versace home takes care of the interior design of all apartments. in fact, buyers can choose from two different design packages. each apartment is fitted out with a jacuzzi, steam room, and sauna. other facilities include multilevel parking and smart home technology. completion of the versace damac tower is scheduled for 2013. location: rue omar daouk [central beirut].



© damac properties

we’re almost losing count. hermès is the latest luxury brand to arrive in lebanon’s booming capital, opening up shop there on wed - jul 30. located on the ground floor of a listed historic building from the 1920s next to the new beirut souks mall, the new store measures 150 sqm. and is designed by paris-based architecture practice rdai, responsible for many of the brand’s flagships across the planet.

although retaining many of the building’s historic features, the store interior references to a great extent the grand hermès flagship on paris‘ rue faubourg st.-honoré. it will carry quite an extensive range of luxury goods, including the iconic bags and luggage plus small leather goods, ready-to-wear for men and women, silk scarves, jewellery and perfumes. location: rue allenby [central beirut].

it’s official: luxe is back in beirut. we’re talking the opening today of louis vuitton’s flagship store in the rapidly changing downtown area. the influx of upmarket foreign brands started a little while ago but the arrival of louis vuitton is an unprecedented step for the city towards becoming the middle east’s leading luxury shopping destination, and rivalling dubai’s current top position.

the store measures 270 sqm. spread over two floors of a restored 1920s townhouse and is designed according to the signature aesthetics laid down by house architect peter marino. this includes the use of beige and brown marble stone, off-white bleached wooden panelling and circular metal netting posing as the monogram flower. a collection of vintage trunks and luggage pieces is put on decorative display on the ground floor while lebanese artist marwan rechmaoui was commissioned window installations specifically for the opening.

louis vuitton’s new store carries the brand’s women’s collections of bags, shoes, jewellery and accessories while it also caters to male customers with men’s city bags, shoes and sunglasses. prior to the store opening louis vuitton c.e.o. yves carcelle threw a little dinner party where he rubbed shoulders with catherine deneuve, christian louboutin [who was in town to launch his own new boutique] and a slew of local dignitaries and glitterati. location: 103 rue allenby [central beirut].






© louis vuitton + david atlan [bottom picture]

geekfest’s second edition is coming up on sat - may 29 [8pm], once again featuring some pretty cool presentations by and for beirut’s e-generation. booked for the lineup so far are creatives dreamchaser, nadine feghaly, bir ghattas, moshumi nandy and elyse tabet. location: art lounge, adam’s factory, pierre gemayel corniche [quarantaine].

this one’s for adventurous music buffs! the irtijal festival of experimental music is back in town on apr 6-9 and held at both masrah beirut [1] and the beirut art center. this 10th edition once again features a series of interesting gigs by a slew of lebanese and international bands and musicians, including scrambled eggs, franz hautzinger’s oriental space and court-circuit. location [1] rue graham [aïn al mreysseh]. location [2]: building 13, rue 97 [jisr al wati].

beirut is making headlines once again. the city has bounced back, ridding itself from gloomy, if not dark connotations while adding new superlatives that even inspired the new york times to declare it the top travel destination of 2009. superfuture was in town, checking out the obvious sights and glitzy places, but also attempted to dig a little deeper and see what else is there. so, we asked a few beirut creatives about their city and their craft.

bernard khoury arguably is lebanon’s best known architect. considered controversial by some and brilliant by others, his work has an edge and often gives food for thought. superfuture had the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

after graduating from harvard you chose to return to beirut. why did you decide to do so?
in the early 1990s beirut just seemed fascinating as an experimental platform for an architect.

what was it like to establish an architecture practice in post-war beirut?
between 1993 and 1997 i went through 16 contractual engagements with clients, 16 projects that died in drawers. project number 17 was b018, the first project i ever built was for the entertainment industry.

professional life in lebanon seems very much intertwined with politics. how does that affect your work as an architect?
architecture can be a political act, in lebanon but also anywhere else. however, the situations i was confronted with in beirut were particularly explosive.

what is the current state of lebanese architecture according to you?
there’s no such thing as lebanese architecture. architects of my generation didn’t produce anything relevant during the so-called post-war era. our fathers’ generation was more politically engaged.

in an interview conducted by the new york times we read that you strongly criticize solidere’s commercial approach regarding the reconstruction of downtown beirut. has your opinion or the situation changed since then?
i don’t criticize solidere’s commercial approach. after all, the reconstruction of downtown beirut has been conducted by the private sector therefore it had to be financially viable. what i do criticize is their inability to produce contextual contemporary interventions.

the problem of solidere is that they are prisoners of an over-simplified past, a sugar-coated history and a sterile non-contextual future. this translates on the one hand, to a rehabilitation and bland replication of pre-french mandate architecture, and on the other hand, erecting sterile corporate buildings. they don’t create buildings that actually relate to the present.

we visited three of your structures here in town: b018, yabani and centrale. all three seem to engage in a dialogue with their respective surroundings. could you explain why you find that important?
b018, centrale and yabani were the first buildings i built. they are contextual interventions as they engage very clearly with their immediate social and political context. since then we have completed the construction of many other projects in different sectors. working for the banking or residential sectors allowed us to engage with more complex contextual parameters.

are there any contemporary lebanese architects that you admire?
i have hopes for the younger generation, those who haven’t yet got the chance to build. contemporary lebanese architects of my generation are producing crap.

how do you relate to the city professionally? and do you view the city differently from a personal point of view?
i don’t see a difference between my professional or personal views. besides, beirut is very difficult to capture in general terms.

what will downtown beirut look like 10 years from now?
it’ll look as polished and manicured as it does today.

are you an avid shopper? if so, what kind of stores or establishments do you regularly visit?
i am not an avid shopper.



© bernard khoury / dw5

prior to next month’s 10th anniversary of the irtijal experimental music festival, two modern jazz-flavoured gigs are held at beirut art center on wed - mar 10 [from 8.30pm]. first innovative amsterdam-based dj sniff will do a one-hour dj set, followed by a concert of french and lebanese guitarists raymond + bastien boni and sharif sehnaoui and tony elieh [9.30pm]. location: building 13, rue 97 [jisr al wati].

check out the beyroutes book launch at the papercup bookstore on sat - mar 6 [5pm-7pm]. this guide book to the fascinating city of beirut is an initiative of studio beirut and is published by archis. the publication is for the true urban explorer and is a highly interesting source of off-the-beaten-track insights by locals and beirut connoisseurs alike. location: agopian building, rue pharaoh [mar mikhael].

originally a laid-back offline gathering for the online generation in dubai, geekfest now expands to bustling beirut, launching there on fri – feb 5 [8.30pm]. next to chilled social talks there’ll be a slew of presentations and promos plus food + drink and what else? be there or be square! location: art lounge, adam’s factory, pierre gemayel corniche [quarantaine]..



© geekfestbeirut

beirut quickly rises from the ashes and meanwhile establishes itself as the region’s ritziest shopping destination. the latest luxury brand to arrive is burberry. it opened a store in the massive beirut souks mall downtown, the city’s latest shopping playground. the new outlet measures a respectable 250 sqm. and features the brand’s burberry london and burberry brit collections for men and women plus accessories, shoes and jewellery. location: rue allenby [central beirut].




© burberry

you in beirut? if so, check out the noise exhibition at galerie sfeir-semler [on until feb 6]. curated by negar azimi and babak radboy for middle eastern contemporary arts mag bidoun, the show aims to ‘focus on the white noise of the white cube, wondering how much it matters which city, region, country, or peoples surround it. as it happens, it does matter, but perhaps not in ways expected. rather than curating works to illustrate problems plucked from a readymade critical lexicon, noise attempts to let these problems arise from, and give rise to, the works themselves, opening the door to the unexpected, and even to the uninvited. the exhibition’s point of departure is the space itself. its location in beirut gives it its critical acoustics, but it retains the conceited platonic generality of any clean post-industrial art space, anywhere in the world’. gallery location: tannous building, 4th floor, rue 56 [quarantaine].

© bidoun / vartan avakian

issue #7 of beirut-based multilingual comics mag samandal will be launched at the centre culturel français on tue - dec 22 [6.30pm]. simultaneously an exhibition of handmade graphic novels will open. location: rue de damas [achrafieh].

these are the final days of lebanese painter/illustrator benoit debbane’s exhibition in loving memory at the running horse [on until nov 29]. on display are a series of satirical and cliché portraits of women who were part of the artist’s life and which mark a new phase in his work. location: sleep comfort depot, avenue charles hélou [medawar].

an interesting exhibition opens at the beirut art center on tue - oct 20 [6pm-9pm]. dubbed america, the show is an attempt to question the united states of america as a possible model of civilization. what does america mean in our collective unconscious? on display are 16 works by artists of different nationalities and backgrounds, living inside and outside of the united states. all these works reflect on aspects of american cultural, social and political life that have become of universal relevance. location: building 13, street 97 [jisr el wati].



© bill viola - the passing [1991]

comics mag samandal #6 is out now! although made in beirut, it features comics from various illustrators from all around the world in arabic, english and french. the new samandal issue is available at selected bookstores and newsstands accross the planet, including forbidden planet [new york], gosh comics [london], grober unfug [berlin] and librairie el bourj [beirut].

the beirut international film festival returns to town on oct 7-14 with a slew of interesting contemporary movies. this 9th edition includes a retrospective of italian film producer paolo benvenuti and a competition of arab feature films and arab short films. opening film is francis ford coppola’s tetro [2009]. main screening location: metropolis cinema, centre empire sofil, rue accaoui [achrafieh].

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parisian deejay royalty comes to town! vincent belorgey a.k.a. dj kavinsky, spins electro house at beirut’s previously women-only ajram beach [1] on fri – aug 21 [9pm]. if you can’t make it, check out his second dj set in town at the basement [2] on sat - aug 22 [10pm]. definitely this weekend’s priority parties! location [1]: ajram beach, ain el mreisseh, opposite palm beach hotel [west beirut]. location [2]: charles hélou avenue [ashrafiyeh].

note: click image to enlarge

the 5th edition of the écrans du réel documentary festival launched today at centre sofil [on until apr 10]. organised by the centre culturelle française a series of 13 documentaries from across the planet are screened. location: malek avenue [ashrafiyeh].

contemporary art gains a brand new foothold in lebanon with the opening of the beirut art center on thu - jan 15 [6pm-9pm]. an initiative of curator sandra dagher and artist lamia joreige, it aims to produce, present and promote local and international contemporary art and cultural practices. the inaugural group show closer presents artworks drawn from personal and intimate stories which create a space reflecting on experiences common and unique. artists include mona hatoum, akram zataari and anri sala. location: jisr el wati, building 13, street 97, zone 66 adlieh [sioufi].


© nadim asfar / beirut

superfuture’s fav beiruti comics mag samandal throws an issue release party on sat - dec 27 [6pm] at the virgin megastore café…check it out, people! location: martyrs square [downtown].