Unintentional branding of the city : Beirut, is this what you want to communicate?

One Huge Name appears alone on a panoramic view of Beirut taken from a high-rise in Sin-el-fil.
With the lack of regulations on acceptable ad sizes, this "Kaliry" (gallery- writen in Arabic) eats up the panorama.

Blue skies and Blue Signs above the city

In a clutter of big billboards and huge ads something like this might be accepted, it might even become part of the identity of a place (Times square in New York city, Dbayeh highway in Lebanon,...though we always hope things get done with better taste) ...but there, standing like that alone and mighty, it is just too flagrantly ugly.

This obligation to see the message / read the name is just frustrating.
Makes you want to photoshop it out, only in reality too, not just on the photo.

Makes me think of the Old beautiful Beiruty homes that get flushed out easily daily, as easy as photoshopping a sign off from a panoramic view, yet this stands strong. How ironic, ya Beirut.

Have you visited Aley Lately?

Aley used to be The Summer Destination of the lebanese, and the people coming for a breeze of fresh air, from the Gulf, before the Lebanese civil war.
After the war, the city regained some of its past glories but, sadly, the last two years have been pretty slow for its residents who depend on tourists. It is as if it is no more fashionable to go to Aley anymore, tourists prefer staying in Beirut, where the malls are plenty, or going to Broumana and Faraya, judged as trendier places nowadays. I pass by Aley often as I cross it to get to my home village, Rejmeh. It is only 35 minutes away from Beirut and other then the loud cafés and restaurants playing arabic music, the scenery and village are pretty nice.

Hotel Aley El Kabir

Hotel Aley Al Kabir - another angle.

Street views of Aley

Street views of Aley

Street views of Aley

interesting & beautiful abandoned house

An old house in the center of Aley main street

Newer (any idea of architect? time built?) interesting facades 

The Souraty Stop - An Urbanism/ Design proposal comes out of video documentation

Frame from the video at the exhibition of
 the Projects at Laboratoire d'Art Galery - Gemmayze

While you can stop any bus anywhere you stand, It seems that in Hamra we have three self emerging Bus Stops: One near Barbar Hamra, One facing the Tourism Ministry and one on Souraty Street corner with Cairo street, with each serving different bus routes.

Taking The Souraty Street as exemple, where van number 4 and bus number 8 stop and servees taxi cars are plenty, we filmed the activity there for a couple of hours:

Analyzing the footage, we found that indeed people gather there to take public transport: there is the usuals who hop on directly knowing bus numbers and destinations, and those who stand there gazing and asking questions and directions if the driver is kind enough to answer. Crossing on red lights is very common and laying back on the concrete stones helps during the waiting time.

Thus, the mini-proposal we came to. On Souraty Street, just after the crossroad with Cairo street, there is a small parking lot, that could very well become a branded Hamra Bus Stop, with benches for the old or tired, navigational maps and bus numbers panels with routes for better efficiency and less hassle, giving the people more confidence in using the public transport system.

Exhibition of the Projects at Laboratoire d'Art - Gemmayze

Frame from the video at the exhibition of the
Projects at Laboratoire d'Art Galery - Gemmayze

Exhibition of the Projects at
Laboratoire d'Art - Gemmayze

The proposal by Lynn Zarif and myself

A walk in Downtown Beirut (or Solidere)

Last month, I went on a walking tour of Downtown Beirut.

Trio: Riad El Solh, the tourists and the protesters' tent.

The Best of Downtown, that olive tree is in the "Roman Bath" public Garden



Super-sized everything buildings, clearance, snakes,woman and vulgarity




The Bride was in a Taxi Service, and came for a shooting in the square (place de l'Etoile) creating a buzz for the guards of the Parliament.



Who is Omar Daouk? He saved Bab Idriss

Omar Daouk Street is now Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Street.

When I saw this sign with a friend we wondered whether this is Bab Idriss turning into a Qatari-Sheikh-Street... Luckily, we still have Bab Idriss, it's Omar Daouk that is gone. Tried to search for him on the net, no trace of who he was (Any input is highly welcome).

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Street sign

Bab meaning Door in Arabic, Bab Idriss is one of the main entrances to the old city of Beirut when it had a wall around it. While most of the other "Bab_" names of streets are lost, this one still reminds us of the history Downtown Beirut holds. Keep it.

Bab Al Darkeh 1848

Bab Al Saraya 1920

BAB IDRISS 1920

Bab Yaacoub- 1906

Bab Al Darkeh- 1848

Google maps still calls it Omar Daouk Street. Click to enlarge.