Bernard Khoury on Beirut Architecture and B018
Résumé
r/Lebanon shares an afikra podcast conversation exploring architecture in Beirut, from the 2020 port explosion and Solidere’s urban narrative to B018’s cultural significance and history. The discussion offers the community a candid look at how architecture confronts the city’s complex past and present.
Live at Bernard Khoury's Architecture Studio | B018, Karantina, Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon & More
Description
Live at Bernard Khoury's Architecture Studio | B018, Karantina, Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon & More
afikra - عفكرة
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Nov 17
2025
🎙️ The afikra Podcast
We visited renowned architect Bernard Khoury in his studio in Karantina, who offered a critical, unvarnished look at the reality of practicing architecture in Lebanon, contrasting it with the sugarcoated story of the "Phoenix coming out of its ashes".
He discusses his career beginnings, the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and how his first project—the infamous B018 nightclub—was a radically specific and necessary response to the city’s complex, macabre history and unstable political and economic context. Khoury shares his philosophical approach to architecture, which rejects stylistic gestures in favor of an obsession with specificity and a direct confrontation with Beirut's explosive nature, arguing for a practice that produces honest, if sometimes "sour" meaning in the present rather than succumbing to toxic simplifications.
00:00 The Sourness and Complexity of Beirut
01:23 Bernard Khoury's Karantina Studio and the Beirut Explosion
04:01 The Illusion and Disillusion of the Post-War Era
12:56 Solidere, Immaterial Ownership, and a New Urbanism
15:44 Nightclub B018: Cultural Significance & Macabre History
19:40 Khalil Khouri: from Furniture Factory to Modern Architect
27:23 A Generational Difference in Practice
28:57 Rejected Labels: What Bernard Khoury Hates to Be Called...
31:41 Style vs. Specificity
36:00 Estrangement and Addiction to a Very Intense Environment
42:00 Bernard Khoury's Criticism of Solidere's Historical Narrative
Born in Beirut (1968), Bernard Khoury studied architecture at the Rhode Island school of Design (BFA 1990 / B.Arch 1991) and Harvard University (M.Arch 1993). He was awarded by the municipality of Rome, the Borromini Prize honorable mention given to architects under 40 years of age (2001), the Architecture + Award (2004), the CNBC Award (2008) and nominated for several awards including the A...
Post Author: /u/EreshkigalKish2
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