1996

An article on the Lebanese house. Main article on the Beiteddine Festival Program, 1996.

The paper narrates the complex story of the traditional residential architecture of Lebanon. Starting with the relationship of the architecture to its natural setting with its mild climate and hilly topography to the social and political context that formed the fabric of the settlements and elements of the architecture. Through the examination of the various formal elements of the architecture of the house, the intrinsic relationship of the house to nature is demonstrated. Through proverbs, sayings and social habits, the role of the house in the Lebanese culture is explored.

“Your house is your larger body (nature, the forest, the world of freedom). It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? And dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop?” (The Prophet, Gibran Khalil Gibran).