Zaha Hadid Architects Issam Fares Institute Beirut

Zaha Hadid Architects recently completed the construction of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI). The building is part of the masterplan for the American University in Beirut (AUB) by Sasaki Associates (in partnership with Machado and Silvetti, MGT of America, Dar Al-Handasa, and Shair & Partners).

Chosen by the judges in a competition held in 2006, Zaha Hadid Architects’ project introduces new links in the Campus, between the Central Oval, the forested area and the sea. To limit the building’s footprint, the architects worked with a series of platforms that fit together at different levels, and integrated ficus and cypress trees hundreds of years old into the building’s design.
Different paths and inclined ramps converge on the courtyard at the entrance to the building, a covered terrace two storeys high intended to provide an informal meeting place for visitors, students and professors on the university campus.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Design: Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Architect: Saleem A. Jalil
ZHA Project Team: Christos Passas, Saleem A. Jalil, Graham Modlen, Human Talebi, Brandon Buck, Miya Ushida
ZHA Competition team: Saleem A. Jalil, Rokhsana Rakhshani, Teakjin Kim, Ben Holland, Charbel Chagoury, Anas Younes, Fulvio Wirtz, Mariagrazia Lanza, Renata Dantas.
Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects, ph. Luke Hayes, Hufton+Crow

www.zaha-hadid.com
www.aub.edu.lb/

---

GALLERY