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"It’s been a whirlwind for Beirut. Lebanon’s capital has spent the past twenty years trying to rebuild itself and its identity. I grew up in a city marked by scars of a brutal civil war, scars that could be found as often on buildings as on people. The dichotomy of Beirut’s architecture is an apt lens with which to understand the city. Its landscape is made of new skyscrapers juxtaposed with old buildings that are now partly destroyed. Amongst these are the Heritage Houses of Beirut. These houses are traditionally adorned with red-tiled roofs, stained-glass windows, high-ceilings and hand-carved wooden windows. Each house bears its own unique style and is surrounded by luscious gardens. Each carries a stain of this city’s tumultuous history. These homes have survived countless brutalities, including the more recent Beirut Blast (the third largest explosion in the world). Some are flimsy, some are broken but what matters is what is still. They are a witness to Beirut’s history and carry a part of our legacy - one that desperately needs to be preserved. It all began with the Pink House. Shortly after the end of the civil war, my mother, Nayla Audi moved back to Beirut. As she rediscovered her hometown, she recognized the fragility of the traditional Lebanese houses and their lack of power against big real estate developers. When my mother heard that the Pink House was going to be destroyed, she launched a campaign to “Save the Houses of Beirut”. She couldn’t reconcile raising children to be proud of their culture in a country stripped of its own heritage. The campaign evolved and became “The Houses of Beirut”, simultaneously an art project, a children’s book and an ode to her beloved Beirut. She commissioned Lebanese artist Flavia Codsi to paint watercolors of seven traditional houses around Beirut, showcasing different attributes of Lebanese Heritage. The book’s story follows the journey of two young girls discovering their city’s culture. Today, each one of these houses stands still, in a different neighbourhood, of a different colour - and for a fleeting moment, Beirut is still as it was. Every one of these Heritage houses has shaped me, especially the one I am lucky to call home. I grew up in the White House in Gemmayze, a few hundred meters away from the port. We only realised how close we were to the sea on 04.08.20, when the Beirut port explosion demolished our house. While going through the remnants of our splintered home, my sister Yasmine and I found a copy of the original print of “The Houses of Beirut”. While peeling through the book’s colourful illustrations, the houses of our shaken city stood still—just as they were before. We decided to publish a new edition of the book. We worked with Anis, one of the oldest printing presses in Beirut that had printed and hand-binded the first edition. They still use the same technique as 24 years ago. We also chose to partner with Beirut Heritage Initiative (BHI), an independent and inclusive collective, that aims to preserve the social and urban fabric of Beirut through Heritage preservation and restoration. You can read more about their impressive work here. All of the profits from our sales are donated towards preserving our national heritage and rebuilding these houses. Our home is a tiny fragment of the larger oasis of peace and culture that has been broken in Beirut, but as long as these houses still stand, there still is hope. Each one of them represent our diverse, colourful heritage – one that is fleeting away. It is important, now more than ever to preserve what is left of our cultural identity. With that, we warmly invite you to discover the “Houses of Beirut” book in London. Please join us on the 31st of March from 5-8pm at Sapling Gallery.\nwww.thehousesofbeirut.com   \n\n \n\n\n\n"
<https://www.ishkar.com/fr/blogs/journal/the-houses-of-beirut-by-julie-audi>