LEBANON)

Real estateBeirut jn an eggshell

Bulldozers of development loom for one the city's last iconic buildings

n the heart of Beirut is the dis-tinctive shell of what was once acomplex called the "City Cen-ter," also affectionately knownas the "Egg."

The Egg, with its nosechopped off and deep scars on itsonce smooth concrete exterior skin,has passed through dramatic changesin its nearly 50 years of existence.Ever since Solidere in 2005 sold theland to Abu Dhabi InvestmentHouse (ADIH) as part of the BeirutGate project, the Egg has been con-stantly threatened with demolition.

48 I J u n e 2 DOg

Solidere sold the land withoutany legal protection or financial in-centive to save the Egg, meaning itsdestruction is almost inevitable. Fornow, the July 2006 war stopped itsimminent demolition and the finan-cial crisis delayed the bulldozers fur-ther. However, the end appears to benear for one of the last iconic, mod-ernist architectural structures in thecenter of Beirut that also carrieswith it the physical manifestationsof the civil war years.

The Egg was built between 1965and 1968 as a multi-use shopping

center, mOVIe theater. and officebuilding. The dev"elopers, Samaand Salha, had ambitious plans fothis development; and wanted tomake it the biggest multi-use centerin the Middle Ea~t" The egg-shape'cinema was designed to hold 1,000.. "'"seats and is 24 meters wide and 11meters high. It was to be accompa-nied by two towers, of which onlyone was built and has since been de-stroyed. George Arbid, professor 0-

architecture at the American Uni-versity of Beirut (AUB), explainethat the distinctive shape of the Egcame about through unintendeconsequences.

"The building code at this timewas very strict about building movietheaters for structural safety," Arbiesaid. "So the architect, Joseph-Philippe Karam, convinced the au-thorities that the law did not forbidthe use of the space below the movietheater, so he created a retail spaceunderneath. Once the movie theaterwas raised and visible, he was forceto give it a distinguished shape.hence the concrete egg shell."