Lebanon. According to the architect, the Levantine country
faces a number of challenges that impact the country’s qual-
ity of architecture and development.
“The majority of developments in Beirut are mostly un-
enlightened,” he said. “There are glimpses of hope, but this
needs to come more from the discerning end-users who are
becoming more demanding of the quality of their environ-
ment, as well as from enlightened developers. This should
drive the need for better design and construction.”
Samara lists challenges such as lack of governmental sup-
port, meaningful public work programmes, open competi-
tions and proper architecture journalism.
“Although we have a great president of the Order of
Engineers and Architects [in Lebanon] at the moment, this
is an anomaly, as this position is too often dictated by politics
rather than merit.”
Fouad Samara Architects is currently involved in a num-
ber of projects in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and it
has several projects near completion, including a 27-storey
tower in Beirut and single-family homes in Jeddah.Inside the
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