House of Arts and Culture, Beirut, Lebanon

Alberto Catalano design chosen as winner for House of Arts and Cutlture
Ten months since the Lebanese Minister for Culture, Mr. Tarek Mitri, launched the international competition for the design of the House of Arts and Culture in Beirut at the UIA General Assembly in Turin, last year, a winning design has been chosen. Located in the Ghalghoul neighbourhood sorely affected by the conflicts, the new dynamic and interactive edifice, will offer a vast range of spaces devoted to creativity, exchange, debate, education and cultural diffusion for all publics and all generations.

An international jury met in Beirut examining 388 projects and the italian team led by Alberto Catalano was chosen as the first prize winner. The jury commented that they appreciated the sensitive approach of the Milanese team, the idea of designing the building as a public plaza, as a “non-building”, and its integration in the urban fabric thus achieving one of the important objectives of the programme: the engagement of the public realm.

The awards were given as follows:

1st prize: Alberto Catalano, team leader, with Giulia Lurcotta, Barbarangelo Licheri, Daniel Piludu, Celestino Sanna, Mariangela Murgia, Emanuela Forcolini, Souraya Frem (Milan, Italy)

2nd prize: Beatriz Ramo López de Angulo, team leader, with Simone de Lacobis, Iñigo Paniego de la Cuesta, Jean-Vianney Deleersnyder (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

3rd prize: “Project Meganom” - Yuri Grigorian, Natalia Tatunashvili, Tatiana Kornienko, Yuri Kuznezov, Elena Uglovskaya, Irina Livieva, Artem Staborovskiy, Ruben Grigoryan (Moscow, Russia)

Mentions:
Dorell, Ghotmeh, Tane (Paris, France)

Spiridon Kakavas, Dimitris Giannis, Eleni Klonizaki (Athens, Greece)

Polymur Ltd - Chris Yoo (London, United Kingdom)

Format 21 - Gerd Röschke (Francfort, Germany)

Atelier 2/3/4 - Jean François Patte, Emilie Sopena, Sylvain Rety, Elie Marçais (Paris, France)

Bernd Upmeyer (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

INCH - Roberto Otero Arbide (Mexico city & Madrid, Spain)

KAPUTT! - Rita Ferreira, Kirill de Lancastre Jedenov, Sérgio Antunes, Irene Bonacchi, Ana

Brütt, Sofia Reis Couto, Filipe Moreira (Lisbon, Portugal)

source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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