Bernard Khoury | On Karantina, Solidere & Practicing Architecture in Lebanon
We visited renowned architect Bernard Khoury in his studio in Karantina, who offered a critical, unvarnished look at the reality of practicing architecture in Lebanon, contrasting it with the sugarcoated story of the "Phoenix coming out of its ashes". He discusses his career beginnings, the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and how his first project—the infamous B018 nightclub—was a radically specific and necessary response to the city’s complex, macabre history and unstable political and economic context. Khoury shares his philosophical approach to architecture, which rejects stylistic gestures in favor of an obsession with specificity and a direct confrontation with Beirut's explosive nature, arguing for a practice that produces honest, if sometimes "sour" meaning in the present rather than succumbing to toxic simplifications. 00:00 The Sourness and Complexity of Beirut01:23 Bernard Khoury's Karantina Studio and the Beirut Explosion03:12 His First Project: B018 in Karantina04:01 The Illusion and Disillusion of the Post-War Era05:42 An Architect's Dilemma: Designing for an Expiry Date12:56 Solidere, Immaterial Ownership, and a New Urbanism15:44 The Cultural Significance of B01817:05 B018's Site: A Macabre History19:40 From Furniture Factory to Architecture Practice22:52 Khalil Khouri: Modern Architect with Certainties27:23 A Generational Difference in Practice28:57 Rejected Labels: What Bernard Khoury Hates to Be Called...31:41 Style vs. Specificity 36:00 Estrangement and Addiction to a Very Intense Environment42:00 Bernard Khoury's Criticism of Solidere's Historical Narrative Born in Beirut (1968), Bernard Khoury studied architecture at the Rhode Island school of Design (BFA 1990 / B.Arch 1991) and Harvard University (M.Arch 1993). He was awarded by the municipality of Rome, the Borromini Prize honorable mention given to architects under 40 years of age (2001), the Architecture + Award (2004), the CNBC Award (2008) and nominated for several awards including the Aga Khan award (2002 / 2004/ 2021), the Chernikov prize (2010) and the Mies van der Rohe Award (2021). He co-founded the Arab Center for Architecture (2008), was a visiting professor in several universities including the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and L’Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. He has lectured and exhibited his work in over 150 institutions, including solo shows at the Aedes gallery in Berlin (2003), the Spazio per l’architecttura Milano (2016) and numerous group shows including YOU prison at the Fondazione Sandretto in Torino (2008), the opening show of the MAXXI museum in Roma (2010), the Frac Architecture Biennale in Orleans (2018), the Oris House of Architecture in Zagreb (2020) and the Architecture Biennale of Seoul (2021). He was the architect and co-curator of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2014). Over the years he has developed an international reputation and a diverse portfolio of projects in over fifteen countries. Khoury was nominated by the French Ministry of Culture Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (2020) Connect with Bernard Khoury 👉 https://instagram.com/bernardkhourydw5
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