STONE GARDEN

Designer: Lina Ghotmeh—Architecture (France and Lebanon); Collaborators: Batimat Architects (Lebanon); Location: Beirut, Lebanon; Year: 2020

Stone Garden is a 13-story tower imbued with hopeful futures for inhabitants of a post-war city. Conceived by a Beirut architect as an inhabited sculpture, it transforms tumultuous events into creative potential. Framing the sea, each opening is filled with verdant gardens that invite nature into the dwelling while providing natural adaption to the changing Mediterranean climate. Standing as a landmark to Beirut’s experience, the architect describes it as “living archeology” that materializes what the city has endured in built form and signals a new belonging for the construction workers who fled neighboring wars, their handwork visible in the tower’s straited façade.

Image: Stone Garden street level; Credit: © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture, Photo © Laurian Ghinitoiu