Architect : Mikou Design Studio
Salwa Mikou, Selma Mikou, Cécile Jalby, Iskra Pencheva, Gwenaël Jerrett, Baharan Khosravi, Ludivine Specht
Client : Ministry of culture
Programme : Theatres, cinema, film library, exhibition space, training and work space, meeting rooms, cafeteria and commercial spaces, documentation center and administration.
Surface : 16 000 m2 SHON
Location : Beirut, Lebanon
Date : competition 2009
House of Arts and Culture, Beirut, Lebanon, 2009
Similar to Beirut, the House of the Arts and Culture is inspired by the diversity of cultures; stimulating the imagination by integrating the sensitivities of various artistic domains. This overlapping of cultural layers is a characteristic feature of the program, which creates a strong identity for the future House of Arts and Culture and hence refers to the iconic image of Beirut; city of cultural and historic sedimentation, nicknamed the "well" because of the various Hellenistic, Roman, Arabic and Ottoman layers. That is why the building is not conceived as a monolithic mass, but rather in a manner to stage this overlapping of cultural layers and the process throughout which they become real spaces, transitional spaces for the exchange and intertwining of creativity.
