#UNDER C-Beirut: "Les Domes de Sursock" | 28F Res - 140m

[-Zippo-]

Taken today:

[-Zippo-]

25-6-2011

[Save Beirut Heritage]

such a lame building for a lame contractor.

get out of our old city .
go build your towers elsewhere ,the new waterfront chez solidere

why threads are being deleted .

totally out of context and always ugly with jamil

[paradyto]

looks nice design..

[Big Abdul]

Wow well done Beirut! From Tehran!

[lebz06]

Originally Posted by Save Beirut Heritage

why threads are being deleted .

Annoying an entire forum of people is not a very effective method of activism.

[allobeirut]

I am not annoyed "Save Beirut Heritage" (giorgio? c toi). It's not necessarily activism, its a forum for critique as well. If you don't understand how much this building (and several other buildings like this, ALL of Jamil Ibrahims projects), have a negative impact on the city everybody claims to love, then you need to read up a bit on architecture, design, urban planning, etc. Everybody seems to be excited to create a skyline for Beirut to the point where as long as it's a tower, the taller the better, its "good for the city". Skylines are great from a distance, but remember whats happening on the ground. Of course some of "save beiruts heritage"s criticism to the other posts in regard to ignoring context (regardless of good design) are hard to discuss because nobody knows what context they're designing for in the city anymore. Are the mandate buildings next door going to be there permanently, or should the design be adaptable for some future context ,most likely,and unfortunately it should since recent trends show that those buildings won't be there anymore.
Not every old building in Beirut can be saved, and if one goes down let us at least be proud of an architecture that respects our city to replace it.

Maybe we need to begin to forget those before and after photos from solidere, and start a before and after with what goes down and up now.

[-Zippo-]

November 24, 2011

image hosted on flickr

Beirut_100_1729 by Trebor_in_Oak, on Flickr

[Lirtain]

May 24, 2012

[GAJ1992]

WOW.. what's that!! that didn't come out nearly 5% as good as the rendering..

[Beiruti]

Are you really surprised? JIE at its finest.

[rezam]

the view from the 28th floor is stunning!

[-Zippo-]

I can't but understand (and agree at some point) with Gaj and Beiruti about how that tower turned out, and how disappointed you guys feel, considering that the renderings were that "promising" to begin with...

However, there are 2 main things that should be taken into consideration here, and those are:

1- The glass is still missing, and judging by the renders, glazed facades should occupy a large portion of the overall look of that tower

2- The angle from Lirtain's view (and my view, as shown later in that post), is awkwardly enough, not the best side of it! (It's awkward because this is the angle that provides a "clear view" of the tower)

To clarify my point, I will start by posting a picture that I've taken on May 20 from the marina (near Zaitunay Bay):



This side appears to be monotonous along all the floors, and this is disappointing, considering that the renders showed a lovely variety, which is specifically what made you all love its design.

Actually, the tower is totally conforming to the renders, but to enjoy the render's view, you have to look at it from the Northern alleys of Rmeil! The elevation view in the intro post is what the tower appears from Charles Malek (if ever you can get a clear view anyway)

Here's what I mean:

This picture that I took last year from that spot looking South-West (lower-left side of your screen) is the angle presented in the render:





And here's an illustration that I've made to clarify the views:



The North sign means (for the non-technical reader) that if you rotate that illustration and point the North vertically to the up of you screen, the marina location will be to the upper left corner of your screen, and thus the render in the above illustration is showing the opposite side (the back side, or the hidden side of the first perspective is what we're seeing in the recently-posted pictures).

I hope that this long post made things a little bit clearer...

[GAJ1992]

thanks zippo for the clarification.. but I mean the top (or whatever you want to call it, i don't know any pro-terms) is completely angled differently.. they had a nice shape for the top and its ruined because of the angle of the shape.. let along there is lots of "galonet mayy" and "chemine" (I had no idea what to say and what to call them,but thats what i came up with) that weren't included in the design.. like it looks awful.. i know the glass isn't added and i'm waiting for that to judge it.. but judging the top of the tower.. it looks completely different..

[-Zippo-]

You're completely right Gaj, the current crown is less steeper than what it appeared in the renders, and this is why you're able to see the service zone on the roof. Judging by the above elevation, the crown should have hidden the service zone while giving a better shape/silhouette for the entire tower.

I should mention here that in the renders, the net protruding height of the crown was equal to 4 stories, which is the height of a building, for a "standing wall"!

Given the height of the tower AND the area by itself (a hill), this was gonna present serious engineering challenges that were gonna cost a LOT for a mere design-idea accomplishment; something we're not accustomed to when it comes to JIE's projects!

[GAJ1992]

well I rest my case here.. I'm pretty sure engineers could have figured it out.. I mean, abu dabi just created a leaning tower and we can't have a nice crown on top of a building.. I'm studying engineering.. and although not that deeply in it since i'm in my sophomore year, I am pretty sure they could have founded something to make it work out..
but if they can't make the design why have us think they can in the render.. that's what I am mad about the most.. I now can't expect any other building to look good till I see it looking good after its done.. lets hope the other towers coming out in the achrafieh area will provide a decent skyline.. I was really hoping for this to be one of the skyline changers of achrafieh.. but its ruining it instead..

[GAJ1992]

OH NOW I GET IT.. JAMIL IBRAHIM IS JIE??
oh nevermind.. we're screwed.. I should've seen that coming..

[Beiruti]

Yes his trademark is cheap design = more profit.

And thanks Zippo for the clarification, we can still hope that the "front" side of the tower will look somewhat descent after the glass is installed.

[-Zippo-]

August 5, 2012