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Tripoli: The Latest Architecture and News

MDDM Design Winning Proposal for Oscar Niemeyer’s Fair in Tripoli

The international competition for the design of the Knowledge Innovation Center (KIC), part of the Tripoli Special Economic Zone (TSEZ), selected the proposal of MDDM, a Beirut based architectural firm, as the winning project. Taking place in the Rachid Karami International Fair designed by Oscar Niemeyer back in the ’60s, in Tripoli, Lebanon, the imagined intervention had to be functionaly and conceptually compliant to specific requirements.

MDDM winning proposal. Image © MDDM MDDM winning proposal. Image © MDDM MDDM winning proposal. Image © MDDM MDDM winning proposal. Image © MDDM + 17

UIA and TSEZ Seek to Revive Niemeyer’s Abandoned Tripoli Site through International Competition

As part of Tripoli’s economic revival plan, the International Union of Architects (UIA), in collaboration with the Lebanese Federation of Engineers and Architects (on behalf of the Tripoli Special Economic Zone / TSEZ), the Union of Mediterranean Architects (UMAR), and the Lebanese Government, have launched an international architecture competition to create a Knowledge and Innovation Center in the northern city of Lebanon.

The proposed site is situated on an empty lot within Oscar Niemeyer’s abandoned Rachid Karami International Fair, a modernist exhibition complex that has yet to see the light of restoration. The objective of the competition is to create a technology and business hub which will foster and promote start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, attracting students, young graduates, local and international companies to Tripoli and the neighboring region.

Courtesy of TSEZ Courtesy of TSEZ Courtesy of TSEZ Courtesy of TSEZ + 12

Oscar Niemeyer's Rachid Karami Exposition Site Crumbling after Years of Neglect

Lebanon is home to several outstanding structures, influenced by centuries of architectural styles. However, one of the most intriguing projects in the Middle Eastern country lies in the northern city of Tripoli, a culturally-rich historical city with structures once inhabited by Romans, Crusaders, Phoenicians, and Ottomans. The Rachid Karami International Exhibition Center, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, reflects the slow deterioration from Lebanon’s pre-war golden age to post-war depression. The country's iconic modernist site has suffered after years of neglect and reportedly will require upwards of 15 million dollars to restore.

© Dima Stouhi © Dima Stouhi © Dima Stouhi © Dima Stouhi + 15

See Oscar Niemeyer's Unfinished Architecture for Lebanon's International Fair Grounds

On the grounds of the Tripoli International Fair (Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center) in Lebanon, one finds one of the five largest exhibition centers in the world [1]. The 15 structures, designed by legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1963, remain unfinished due to the project's abandonment during the country's civil war in 1975.

Arch. International Fairgrounds of Tripoli / Oscar Niemeyer. Image © Anthony Saroufim Theater. International Fairgrounds of Tripoli / Oscar Niemeyer. Image © Anthony Saroufim Enclosed Theater. International Fairgrounds of Tripoli / Oscar Niemeyer. Image © Anthony Saroufim Theater interior. International Fairgrounds of Tripoli / Oscar Niemeyer. Image © Anthony Saroufim + 24

Tripoli Congress Center / Tabanlioglu Architects

© Cemal Emden © Cemal Emden © Cemal Emden © Cemal Emden + 15

Learning
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Tripoli, Libya

Henning Larsen Wins Competition to Design Central Bank of Libya

Henning Larsen Architects has won an invited competition to design a new headquarters for the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli. Inspired by Libyan vernacular architecture, the structure will occupy two existing site excavations. The first, and largest, excavation will be transformed into a “shaded oasis” that serves both the bank and Gurji district by providing areas for operations, an education center, restaurant and hotel. The second will allow vehicular access to the treasuries.

Libyan History Museum / Jafar Tukan Architects

Courtesy of Consolidated Consultants/Jafar Tukan Architects
Courtesy of Consolidated Consultants/Jafar Tukan Architects

Located in a very rich part of Tripoli where street cafes are full, public gardens are lavish, and pedestrian pathways are bursting with everyday life, it is the perfect setting to tell a piece of Libya’s history. Therefore, the design strategy of Consolidated Consultants/Jafar Tukan Architects consists of embracing this rich surrounding for this history museum. More images and architects’ description after the break.