Le Beryte Hotel, designed by modernist architect Joseph Philippe Karam in the 1950s, is a fascinating piece of Beirut's mid-century architectural history located at the corner of Ibn Sina Road and Phoenicia Street.

Originally a sleek example of avant-garde functionalism from Lebanon's golden era, the building has unfortunately been heavily altered over decades of renovations and war, losing much of its original modernist aesthetic.

Today, it still stands in the Ras Beirut / Minet El Hosn area operating as Le Beryte Boutique Hotel, a compact 36-room property featuring a retro-leaning interior with stone fireplaces, a spa, and an underground nightclub.

Image 1: Modern Architecture from Lebanon
Image 2: Hotels.com

Can you believe this house is 100 years old!

https://youtu.be/ibdYSzRSoJ0?si=CFZPROMot3Fne_l5

👷‍♂️: UID Architects 📏: 116 m² 🗓️: 2012 📍: Hiroshima, Japan 📷: Hiroshi Ueda

London studio Skene Catling de la Peña and not-for-profit organisation Factum Foundation are set to turn the Toppila silo designed by architects Aino and Alvar Aalto in Oulu, Finland, into the Aaltosiilo cultural space.

The silo was designed in 1931 for a cellulose plant in the Toppila district of Oulu.

They will now work together to turn the structure into the Aaltosiilo, while a research centre designed by Skene Catling de la Peña will be built alongside it.

Originally designed to store wood chips, the 28-metre high silo was one of the Aaltos earliest industrial works and helped define the architects’ future architecture.

BBC Radio 4's quickie 'Witness History / Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright's Utopian Town' is a recording of Wright and his client Roland Reisley, now 100 years old. Reisley was a founding member of the community where he still lives and discusses the Usonian quality of life.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct743v