The House of Beirut. by Roman Robroek - Photos of Abandoned Buildings

About "The House of Beirut."

by Roman Robroek - Photos of Abandoned Buildings

About the artwork

The Barakat house, commissioned by Nicholas Barakat and his wife Victoria, was designed and built in 1924 by Lebanese architect Youssef Aftimus, the architect who designed Beirut's city hall. In 1932 two more stories were added by architect Fouad Kozah, giving the building its current form.

Middle-class families lived in the building's eight spacious apartments until the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war, when Christian militiamen moved in. The Barakat building became a vantage point for snipers overlooking a combat zone; it ensured the control of the Sodeco crossroad because of its airy architecture and due to its location on the demarcation line that separated the warring factions.

The civil war devastated the Barakat building and neglect took its toll on the structure, which became the scene of repetitive acts of vandalism; it was sentenced for demolition in 1997 when the owners decided to sell the property. It was saved by Lebanese heritage activists, particularly architect Mona Hallak who first investigated the house in 1994 during one of her visits with the "Association pour la Protection des Sites et Anciennes Demeures au Liban" (APSAD), an independent organisation for the protection of historic monuments and buildings. Activists had articles about the structure published in the press almost on a daily basis, wrote petitions, and organized rallies in front of the building. Protestations finally led to the suspension of the decision to destroy the build