Lebanese Architecture

Across geographies and generations, architects are rethinking the idea of home, balancing personal expression, contextual sensitivity, and material clarity. These contemporary residential proposals, submitted by the ArchDaily community, reveal how the house continues to evolve as both an architectural statement and an intimate landscape for living. From the sculptural and futuristic to the grounded and vernacular, they explore how built form balances between identity, environment, and lifestyle in an increasingly complex world.

Known today for her poetic yet rigorous approach to architecture, Lina Ghotmeh has become one of the most compelling voices in contemporary design. Her work spans continents, from the British Museum's Western Range redesign in London to AlUla's Contemporary Art Museum, and includes landmark commissions such as the Serpentine Pavilion in London, Stone Garden in Beirut, the Bahrain Pavilion at the 2025 Expo Osaka, and the Estonian National Museum in Tartu, Estonia which she won the competition to design at just 25. Through a palimpsest of projects, Ghotmeh has established a distinctive architectural language that bridges memory and contemporary life. Wherever she builds, her process captures a constant dialogue between people, place, past and future.

September marks a shift in seasonality worldwide, bringing with it a renewed focus on cultural and architectural events that encourage reflection on contemporary global challenges. This week's major news highlighted international exhibitions and design initiatives addressing questions of resilience, urban transformation, and collective futures, alongside new projects dedicated to preserving both cultural and natural heritage. Across continents, biennales, urban developments, and restoration efforts are shaping a broader conversation on how architecture and design can foster adaptation, memory, and coexistence in rapidly changing environments.

A blast destroyed 40% of the city of Beirut on August 4, 2020. Five years after the port explosions, the UNESCO Director-General visited Lebanon to assess the institution's work in the capital city. UNESCO's efforts have been based on the recognition that the explosion destroyed numerous buildings and historic neighborhoods that were home to a community of cultural professionals, leaving a void in the city's cultural landscape and economy. The organization mobilized international efforts to restore, reactivate, and safeguard Beirut's heritage buildings, schools, museums, and cultural institutions, seeking to provide a comprehensive response to protect the city's cultural fabric. During the visit in September, new restoration and reconstruction programs were announced, including the rehabilitation of the Mar Mikhael train station and Beirut's Grand Theatre, as well as support for cultural industries in Tyre and Baalbek.

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The Lebanese Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 explores the land as a site of memory, intelligence, and resistance. Titled The Land Remembers, the exhibition is presented by the Collective for Architecture Lebanon, composed of Lynn Chamoun, Elias Tamer, Shereen Doummar, and Edouard Souhaid, and takes the form of a fictional public institution: the Ministry of Land Intelligens. The pavilion addresses the ongoing ecological crisis in Lebanon through an architectural lens, framing ecocide as both an environmental and social injustice. Positioned within this year's curatorial framework Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective. the project calls for a reevaluation of how architecture engages with damaged landscapes. In this interview with ArchDaily editors during the Biennale, the curators explain how the project impels a rethinking of architecture's foundational commitment to the land.

At the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025, the Lebanese Pavilion, curated by the Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL), presents "The Land Remembers," an exploration of ecocide and environmental healing. Selected by Lebanon's Ministry of Culture and the Lebanese Federation of Engineers, CAL is a non-profit organization co-founded in 2019 by Shereen Doummar, Edouard Souhaid, Elias Tamer, and Lynn Chamoun. Their curatorial vision aims to transform the pavilion into a fictional institution, the Ministry of Land Intelligens, dedicated to confronting environmental devastation and proposing strategies for ecological restoration.

The 24th International Exhibition of Triennale Milano opened to the public on May 13, 2025, at the historic Palazzo dell'Arte. Running until November 9, this edition explores the theme of "Inequalities", continuing Triennale Milano's tradition of addressing urgent global issues through the lenses of art, architecture, and design. The exhibition is formed by two main sections: one that presents a curated selection of exhibitions and installations by individual artists and teams, and another that features international participations, including national pavilions and their contributions. At the opening ceremony on May 12th, the Bee Awards were presented to recognize selected contributions across the exhibition. From both the exhibitions and the international participations, the jury awarded one winner and one honorable mention each.

A previous exploration of cultural landmarks in the Middle East designed by international architects highlighted recurring themes such as architecture as an extension of the landscape, climate-responsive design, and abstraction of traditional forms. These projects often introduced high-tech environmental solutions, used monumental forms to reinterpret local identity, or positioned themselves as landmarks within the broader urban or desert landscape. While these approaches have defined many of the region's most recognizable cultural institutions, they represent just one side of the architectural discourse. An equally significant yet distinct trajectory emerges from local architects, who work within existing structures, historical contexts, and lived environments to create institutions that feel deeply embedded in their surroundings. This approach prioritizes continuity, transformation, and accessibility, ensuring that architecture remains an evolving part of the cultural fabric rather than a self-contained object.

Education has long been a driving force in the Middle East, shaping knowledge, encouraging innovation, and strengthening cultural identity. In recent years, educational architecture in the region has expanded beyond its academic function, evolving into public gathering spaces and cultural hubs. These institutions are designed not only for learning but also for dialogue, research, and collaboration, often integrating open courtyards, multi-use public areas, and architectural elements that reflect local heritage. Whether through their physical openness, adaptability, or connection to the urban environment, these spaces reinforce the idea that universities and research centers are essential to civic life.

The configuration of the mosque, the worshipping place for Muslims, traces its history to the courtyard of the religion's founder. The first mosques were, therefore, simple open spaces marked for ritual prayer use. Over the years and centuries, they would gain multiple standard, functional features, such as the mihrab, a niche that indicates the direction of prayer, and the minbar, a pulpit for the preacher to give the sermon. Other elements also became common, such as domes and minarets, which were historically used for the call to prayer. These had the additional purpose of signifying the function of the building as a mosque and were used by rulers and benefactors to elevate its grandeur.