Beit Al Zajal

Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Debbieh

Project idea

Beit el Zajal: Revitalizing Intangible Cultural Heritage through Critical Regionalism

"Beit el Zajal" is a Cultural Academy and Performance Center located in the historic village of Mtein, Lebanon. The project serves as a physical vessel designed to preserve, document, and revitalize Zajal—the traditional form of semi-improvised, spoken Lebanese poetry inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The core objective is to challenge superficial historicism by employing the principles of Critical Regionalism. The project aims to establish an architectural dialogue across a "Loop of Time," bridging the historic urban fabric of Mtein with a contemporary architectural intervention. By doing so, it creates a sustainable cultural anchor that transforms oral tradition into a tangible spatial experience, fostering community resilience and safeguarding regional identity for future generations.

Project description

The project rejects monolithic institutional forms, opting instead to fracture the extensive programmatic requirements into a cluster of low-rise, interconnected volumes that respect the grain, scale, and organic growth of Mtein’s historical fabric. The spatial configuration is organized around a series of fluid thresholds, transitioning from public open plazas to semi-private courtyards and interstitial pathways that echo the traditional liwan and dar typologies.

The program is divided into Four functional zones:

1. Cultural and Community Space: The public heart of the project, anchoring an expansive outdoor amphitheater alongside structural volumes that accommodate communal gatherings, exhibitions, and cultural exchanges that connect visitors directly with local heritage.

2. Performance Space: A dedicated, multi-tiered complex designed to host formal and spontaneous poetic duels (Zajal battles), dramatic showcases, and public performances, utilizing dynamic overhead framing and semi-enclosed spatial geometries.

3. Educational Space: A multi-level academic facility composed of specialized classrooms, workshop studios, and research wings intended to cultivate and pass down the artistic metrics, history, and practice of Lebanese oral poetry.

4. Administrative Space : An administration and management hub connected via elevated pedestrian bridges, providing dedicated spaces for institutional operations, archival research logistics, and staff facilities.

Circulation is deliberately woven through central open-air courtyards, creating vibrant interstitial spaces where masters, students, and visitors can spontaneously interact.

Technical information

Structural System:
A hybrid structural framework comprising heavy, load-bearing double-skin stone masonry walls to echo traditional construction, integrated with a modern reinforced concrete frame for the large performance volume and reinforced concrete columns for educational and administrative buildings.

Materials:
Local Lebanese limestone, exposed fair-faced concrete, minimal steel elements, cedar wood elements, and high-performance low-E glazing.

Passive & Climate-Responsive Strategies:
1. Thermal Mass: Thick stone envelope walls provide high thermal inertia, stabilizing indoor temperatures against regional diurnal fluctuations.

2. Natural Ventilation: Deep courtyards and wind-catching architectural geometries induce the stack effect, maximizing natural cross-ventilation throughout the academic and administrative wings.

3. Solar Shading: Cedar wood louver panels, deep-set openings, and expansive overhead pergolas protect fully glazed facades from direct solar heat gain while creating dynamic shadow patterns that enrich the spatial experience.

Site Integration:
Topographical adaptation through terraced structural levels, reducing excavation impact and preserving the natural contours and surrounding flora of the historic site.

Documentation

Show PDF 1