Beirut, Lebanon
2014
Cinema City
Beirut Souks
Originating from an international competition for the renovation of the Souks of Beirut, won by the team in 1994, the leisure centre combines a 14-screen cinema complex, restaurants, shops, a megastore and offices.
Client
Program
Area
Planning
Client
Solidere
Program
Creation of a leisure centre, cinema complex and retail.
Area
28 000 m²
Planning
Competition
1994
Delivery
2014
It is set on rue Allenby, in continuity with the restored façades typical of the “French Quarter”; the commercial part of the souks rebuilt by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, with which it furthermore has a dialogue; and lastly the Majidya mosque, which it sits alongside.
Capitalising on this strategic location in the Souks district, the centre is designed as an urban-use project that fulfils its role in the spatial definition of squares, both large and small, and streets. Playing with alignments, it constructs continuities with the urban space which it qualifies with the infills, voids and transparencies that characterise its morphology.
But the project is essentially defined as an urban landmark. Its sculptural morphology, made up of a collection of metal ribbons extending across the space in a copper-toned arabesque, and its façades, which are given a dynamic quality by luminous dots that compose changing images, make this a building that is emblematic of Beirut’s new night life. The project was realised in association with Lebanese architect Annabel Karim Kassar.
Capitalising on this strategic location in the Souks district, the centre is designed as an urban-use project that fulfils its role in the spatial definition of squares, both large and small, and streets. Playing with alignments, it constructs continuities with the urban space which it qualifies with the infills, voids and transparencies that characterise its morphology.
But the project is essentially defined as an urban landmark. Its sculptural morphology, made up of a collection of metal ribbons extending across the space in a copper-toned arabesque, and its façades, which are given a dynamic quality by luminous dots that compose changing images, make this a building that is emblematic of Beirut’s new night life. The project was realised in association with Lebanese architect Annabel Karim Kassar.
Haitang Bay