30-04-2019

Immeuble de l’Union, Karim Nader renovates a modern building in Beirut

Karim Nader Studio,

Marcel Rached,

Beirut,

Residences,

Refurbishment,

The renovation planned by architect Karim Nader of the Immeuble de l’Union, an important modern building in Beirut designed by architects Lucien Cavro and Antoine Tabet, was an important opportunity to pay tribute to Lebanon’s golden age and, at the same time, to become a source of inspiration for a new approach to the protection and conservation of the city’s architectural heritage.



Immeuble de l’Union, Karim Nader renovates a modern building in Beirut

An enigmatic woman in a vibrant and elegant red dress wanders around in the Immeuble de l’Union in Beirut. A modern building built in 1952 and designed by architects Lucien Cavro and Antoine Tabet, now empty, crystallised in an indefinite time just before starting the renovations designed by architect Karim Nader. The enigmatic woman dressed by Mira Hayek in a billowy red organza dress is, along with the Immeuble de l’Union itself, the star of the “Woman in Red” sequence, a photographic project by Marcel Rached presented during Beirut Design Week 2017.
The beautiful series of photographs and the renovation of the Immeuble de l’Union bring the condition of the city of Beirut’s modern building heritage to the public’s attention. A series of buildings built between the 1950s and 1970s whose existence is threatened both by a lack of legislative instruments for their protection, and by their being overlooked by a public which has not been taught to appreciate the architecture of the recent past. Constructions which are layered up over time, significant both for their appearance and for their historical, social and technical value. Buildings which are often the result of combined works from different periods which place different construction materials and techniques side by side. Veritable pioneers, as they represent the introduction of new construction techniques and new materials into cities - one need only consider the passage from stone to modern materials, such as iron, concrete and glass. Buildings that have become a mirror of their time and that have contributed to a shift in the city’s image.

The residential complex of the Immeuble de l’Union is, in this context, an important example of how the European modernist style influenced the architecture of the city of Beirut. A large and luxurious block whose entrance is adorned by two famous sculptures of women by Jean Dorier and two very colourful mosaics by Henri-Pierre Fortier. The building was an important landmark of the city and a point of reference for a past which risks being forgotten. It contained the most important high-tech innovations of its time: an underground car park with car wash, boilers from the USA, German lifts and phone booths both on the ground floor and on the rooftop club. The renovation project includes major works at street level initially, where the architect will expand the entrance halls, opening the building to the city, and continuing the artistic experience announced by Dorier’s statues on the façade within the building itself. Karim Nader has taken on a dual challenge in his project to renovate the Immeuble de l’Union. The first is to give back to Beirut an icon of its glorious past with a contemporary project, which restores the building’s lost elegance and historical value, but with a modern twist. The second, meanwhile, lies in the opportunity to become a source of inspiration for a new approach to the protection and conservation of the city’s modern architectural heritage.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Designed by Karim Nader with Karina el Hage, Sarah Bayeh, Ahmad Yehya, Nicolas Araman, Iyad abou Gaida, Christy Layous, Mario Khoury.
Landscape Design by Atelier Hamra, Maha Issa, Ralph Karkar and Monica Fabian.
Parking Design and Structural Engineering by Mazen el Sayyed
MEP by MECANICA
Visualisation by Cleerstudio and Karim Nader Studio
The Woman in Red Photoshoot by Marcel Rached, Dress by Mira Hayek.
Current State of Building Photography by Marwan Harmouche.
Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Images courtesy of Karim Nader Studio www.karimnader.com


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