ABSTRACT
Beirut was a lively and prosperous Mediterranean capital before the last war. It combined a multitude of architectural influences, from entire Mandate period streets to impressive Ottoman public and private buildings, with earlier traces visible here and there, whether a unique Mamluk dome or re-erected classical columns, fragments of even earlier public buildings. Between 1975 and 1990, disaster struck. By 1990, this once throbbing city centre lay dead: for over fifteen years this strip of territory between East and West Beirut had been shot into with a vengeance that made no sense to any observer. Who would have had an interest in continuing to pound the heart of a city already devastated? Historical buildings stood in ruins, while archaeological remains waited below ground. This desolate centre was in urgent need of reconstruction, if the heart of the city was to revive (Figure 14.1a and b).
