Beirut: The World's Most Fascinating Urban Experiment

After years of war, Beirut proves that conflict can result in a rich urban restoration effort.

1 minute read

December 30, 2003, 12:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


But if this city's surviving inhabitants have yet to fully recover from the psychic damage the war caused, the rapid pace of its physical reconstruction has since transformed it into one of the world's most fascinating urban experiments... A long list of architectural luminaries ... have recently been given major commissions here... The importance of these moves extends far beyond issues of urban planning. They are the basis of a vision rarely seen today: a city of often contradictory values that nonetheless retains a sense of cultural wholeness."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

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