Located on the 20th floor of a Beiruti tower, the apartment benefits from a spectacular exposure to light and view. Maybe too much of an exposure, so much light that it demands a darkening. Combined with a certain affinity for modernity and the purity of its lines, clear architectural references - Gerrit Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Eileen Grey... find their way as the necessary accents in primary color of an otherwise neutral background.

The consistent grey cement palette on floor and walls is only contradicted by the lightness of a natural wood ceiling where a Calder-like ‘mobile’ serves as a decorative light accent. Dark corridor and apartment entrance serve as ‘blind transitions’ while the multi-guest bedroom doubles as a yoga space and home office.

When Beirut eventually overlays itself in this modernist Mondrian-like collage, it is once again its moving shadows that activate all perspectives of this multi-layered city: north towards the port, south and east towards the mountains and west towards the central district.

Project design team: Karim Nader with Yasmina Baladi, Elie Christian Naameh, Bassel Sleem
Contractor: Gamme Hawat