The complexity of Beirut calls for its museum to provide more than art galleries, and more than a landmark. To engage the broader public, Beirut requires a fertile platform for new modes of production and creation, and a paradigm for sustainable architecture. With Beirut’s urban landscape overwhelmed by heavy, barricaded, concrete towers from its recent histories, the BeMA building offers the opposite: a transparency.
BeMA's physical and metaphorical transparencies offer an invitation to the community to gather within a vibrant place. An ETFE double skin featuring aluminum fins between the envelope's two layers filters sunlight into the architecture. This experiential effect is a reference to the Japanese concept of "komorebi", which is the movement of natural sunlight through the leaves of a tree. The result is an interior animation of light and a background for continuous movement. Thus, while typical museums present their activities within enclosed spaces, BeMA's activities are enlivened by animated, transparent spaces without boundary. Further, the ground floor opens to the street, allowing free circulation and connection to its environs.
The circulation core establishes the primary connections between the museum's programmatic offerings. Considered as a "green spine", the core acts as a vertical garden that extends throughout the building, with curved staircases and escalators traveling in-between floors. These circulation paths encourage diverse interactions that reflect the heterogeneity of modern and contemporary art, while dialogues between visitors, artists, art, curators, and the city are nurtured and encouraged. Ultimately, by progressing beyond the enclosures of yesterday, BeMA fully engages with the Beirut art community of today, world-recognized, and rich with potential.
View Original