Housing new perspectives of the Arab world

The American University of Beirut has a new campus heart. Architect Zaha Hadid’s newly-opened building links the university’s two campuses and the Mediterranean Sea. or its research institute on the Arab region.

This two-level home of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs consists of offices, seminar rooms, and an auditorium, all housed in a 3,000 square meters building that “floats” above the site, creating a civic space underneath for the university community. This covered outdoor terrace also connects to the double-height entrance courtyard of this building surrounded by trees over a century old.

“The design established the institute as a crossroads; a three-dimensional intersection and space for the University’s students, faculty, researchers and visitors to meet, connect and engage with each other and the wider community,” Hadid said in a statement.

By raising her in-situ concrete building above the ground, the Arab architect’s 2006 winning proposal also overcame several site constraints, including a seven-meter drop in elevation between its north and south boundaries. The building’s reduced footprint also preserved the existing  landscape based on Sasaki Associate’s 2002 master -plan for the university campus, which consists of a variety of revivalist and modernist-styled buildings constructed throughout the 20^th century.