FORP H OTO S BY

Dia MradPHOTO: Dia MradOn the Rocks
Karim Nader StudioContents
1Press release

42The project82

Data and credits

93

Karim Nader

124Images for the press

14

Press office
Cultivar
tel +39 055 4684 187
Director
Paola Giaconia
paola.giaconia@cultivar.agency

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On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

Press release

51Press release
4October
2021

ON THE ROCKS BY KARIM NADERSTUDIO IS COMPLETED. THE
HOUSE SEEKS A TOTAL IMMERSION
IN NATURE, ON A UNIQUELYBEAUTIFUL – BUT CHALLENGINGSITE IN LEBANON.
On The Rocks is a spectacularconcrete and glass retreat designedby Karim Nader Studio. The housesits on the limestone bedrock of
Faqra, Lebanon, at 1,700 meters
above sea level as a sort ofextension of the inspiring local
natural condition: a lunar landscapeof rock formations carved bymillennia of rain and snow, withpanoramic views to the club, thesurrounding rock park, the valleys
and Beirut beyond.

In the midst of alimestone landscape.
The small town of Faqra might
be most famous for its majestic
archaeological site, the mostextensive of all Mount Lebanonwith Roman and Byzantine ruins,and its skiing facilities. Once there,
one cannot but be amazed byits landscape, with scenic rockformations known under thepopular name of “houses of ghosts,”
about 1-hour drive north-east of
Beirut
It is here that Karim Nader Studiohas designed a new, spectacular
retreat residence, deeply inspiredby its sublime surroundings. By
carefully referencing the lightgrayness and raw jaggedness of
the rocks, the house expands thecanvas of the natural context into
man-made fair-faced concrete
volumes that accommodate theintimate functions of the house.

A house built uponnature.
The house is accessed by a stunningfloating staircase that, cascading
between the built volumes andmeandering around the rocks,
seems to be almost emerging

from the limestone formations
surrounding the house.
The thickness and the overall
sense of compactness offeredby the concrete enclosures iscounterbalanced by a careful useof glass in a dynamic relationshipthat characterizes all rooms in thehouse. A zinc roof hovers above
those apparently dispersed boxes,
creating a seeming enclosure.
“But where roof happens, enclosure
disappears, and where enclosure
happens, roof disappears. The intimacyof enclosure is here opposed to theopenness of an extreme transparency
as they do not happen at once in thisatypical house,” says Karim Nader.

Each of the three bedrooms, fully
cladded in wood to offer a warm
environment, opens up to a small
patio with a tree, a rock and aselected perspective to the outside.
The living rooms sit under thebridging roof (18m in length) andare bounded by fully operable
facades to the north and south,

allowing its inhabitants to enjoy
sheltered outdoors space in thewarmer months.
“Nature builds us and we build uponNature,” as Karim Nader points out.
“I seek to always listen. To the site ofcourse, and the voices of nature, but also
to the human context.”

An entire chapter of his recent
book For a Novel Architecture.
Ciné-roman 2000-2020, publishedby LetteraVentidue a few months
ago, is dedicated to “Homes uponNature”, in a compelling narrativethat manifests Karim’s relentlesspassion for the architectural practiceand his sentimental relationshipwith every site, every client, inevery situation.

Karim Nader.
Karim Nader is one of the mostprominent figures in the new
Lebanese movement working to
uncover the national architectural
treasures, whose memories werefirst erased by civil war and now

Emblematic to this approach ishis ongoing renovation project for
Immeuble de l’Union, located nearby
the Banque du Liban CMA building:a modernist gem built in 1952, Karim
Nader decided to preserve its sheer
elegance and architectural historicalvalue, avoiding nostalgia, throughmixed-use re-programming,
combining commercial ambition
with a cultural and historical drive.
The same attitude is readable in theproject Karim Nader carried out, incollaboration with Ivana Nestorovic,
for the repair of ten public schools
in Beirut: an initiative promoted by
the Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation in coordination
with the Lebanese Ministry ofEducation and Higher Education inan emergency swift action following
the devastating explosion thatshattered Beirut in August 2020.

For a Novel Architecture, his
first retrospective book covering
the years 2000 to 2020, waspublished in December 2020 byLetteraVentidue.

PHOTO: Dia Mradendangered by the common practiceof demolition, in the rush towards
modernizing the city. Born during
the civil war, Nader is one of theleading exponents of the newcosmopolitan generation eager tocreate a new conversation between
heritage and modernity, hoping tochange the attitude towards thepast and inspiring a new attitude
towards a new golden age forarchitecture.

8On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

923

The project

Data and credits

as described by Karim Nader Studioof the project

It is on a spectacular canvas of grays that he desires to retreat. He chooses aninspiring site in Faqra where rock formations carved by millennia of rain and snow
compose a natural inviting cradle with panoramic views to the club, the surroundingrock park, the valleys and Beirut beyond.
Seeking a total immersion in nature, we expand the existing grey canvas into manmade fair-faced concrete volumes that contain the intimate functions of the house.
Bridging across those apparently dispersed boxes, a zinc roof floats to create aseeming enclosure. But where roof happens, enclosure disappears, and whereenclosure happens, roof disappears. The intimacy of enclosure is here opposed to theopenness of an extreme transparency as they do not happen at once in this atypicalhouse.
The boxes contain three ‘punctured’ bedrooms, where every entrance at the turnof an angle opens up to a small patio with a tree, a rock and a selected perspective
to the outside. The rooms are warm worlds, fully cladded in wood to create theneeded double wall without exceeding a contemporary standard of thickness. Thereception area is the absence of enclosure to an extreme. Sitting under a bridging roof
18m in length, its fully operable facade to the north and south creates an unusual
setup for such an environment where the possibility of living outside during thespring, summer and fall becomes the natural invitation. The house is entered fromthe west side via a cascading staircase that meanders around the rocks, reaching
to the reception platform/terrace where a long pool juts out towards the view andcascades down towards the street. The southeast corner with its existing circularrock formation becomes the receptacle for a sundeck with a fire and an extended
reception terrace with lavender, scattered smaller rocks and pebbles in the zen
tradition.
The overall composition - a multitude of grey volumes surmounted by a roof - doreiterate the elements of a house iconography. But it is as if nature has taken over,and in the numerous gaps where light seeps at varying angles, it is more of a garden
folly that emerges this time.

Project nameOn the Rocks

Project location

Faqra, Lebanon

ClientPrivateArchitect

Karim Nader Studio
www.karimnader.com

Project partner

Roula Assaf

Project team

Karim Nader with Roula Assaf, Elie ChristianNaameh, Yasmina Baladi, Omar Faress Darwish, Elias el Hage

Consultants

Structural engineering: Elie Turk
MEP engineering: EAK Signature

Construction

MAK Builders
Rami Kassem and Walid Sader

Project status

Built (summer 2021)

Photographs

Dia Mradunless otherwise noted

Press office

Cultivarwww.cultivar.agency

On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

Book data

PHOTO: Dia Mrad10

On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

4
Karim Nader

Karim Nader is an architect, teacher and yogi. Born in 1976 in Lebanon, he studied
at the American University of Beirut (Bachelor of Architecture with distinction,1999) and at Rice University in Houston, in the United States of America (Master ofArchitecture, 2003).
He has been practicing architecture for the last 20 years with work designed and built
in Lebanon and the world. He is currently running Karim Nader Studio, an architectureand design practice based in Beirut. He has been also teaching architectural studios
and theoretical electives at universities in Lebanon since the year 2000. Firm
believer in the power of architecture to transcend the limiting vision of the global
market as well as the psychological hurdles that are often self-imposed, he practices
an architectural middle-way that seeks to explore the potential of every site andsituation through a novel spatial expression that finds its roots in the narratives ofthe place both humane and historical. The architectural project seeks to extend thenarratives into the ‘natural’ next chapter of their own unfolding stories through theact of designing and building. His references vary from Zen Buddhism to Western
philosophy in a liberty to quote from the hybrid roots that make the Lebanesesubject. The work of his studio as well as the fruit of previous collaborations has been
widely published in the international press with notable acclaim and recognition bothon built work and competitions.

For a Novel Architecture, his first retrospective book covering the years 2000 to2020, was published in December 2020 by LetteraVentidue.
www.karimnader.com

DODI MOSS

13

PHOTO: Marco Pinarelli

12

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On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

5Images for the press

The following images
are protected by copyright.
Please refer to the caption of each image
for credits and proper attribution.
Please contact Cultivar atpress@cultivar.agency
to request high-res files
and to publish them.

File name: On the Rocks - PH DSCF9208
Caption: Karim Nader Studio, On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon. Photo: Dia Mrad.

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On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

Images for the press

17
File name: On
the Rocks - PH
DSCF4569
Caption: KarimNader Studio,
On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon.
Photo: Dia Mrad.

(above) File name: On
the Rocks - PH KNSTKF-MAIN
Caption: Karim NaderStudio, On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon. Photo:Christopher Antaki.
(left) File name: On theRocks - PH DSCF9209
Caption: Karim NaderStudio, On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon. Photo:Dia Mrad.

File name: Onthe Rocks - PH
DSCF4549
Caption: KarimNader Studio,
On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon.
Photo: Dia Mrad.

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On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

Images for the press

19
File name: On
the Rocks mod Q4A3179
Caption: Karim
Nader Studio,
On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon.
The modelin concrete.
Photo: Marwan
Harmouche.

(above) File name: On the Rocks - mod Q4A3157 and mod Q4A3234
Caption: Karim Nader Studio, On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon. The model inconcrete. Photo: Marwan Harmouche.
(below) File name: On the Rocks - SK 01
Caption: Karim Nader Studio, On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon. Sketch byKarim Nader.

File name: Onthe Rocks mod Q4A3186
Caption: KarimNader Studio,
On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon.
The modelin concrete.
Photo: MarwanHarmouche.

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Images for the press

On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon

21
File name: On the Rocks- DW 03
Caption: Karim NaderStudio, On the Rocks inFaqra, Lebanon. Roof plan.

Xref .\KNS-TKF-A-EXE-PLN-AXIS.dwg

02510File name: On the Rocks - DW 00
Caption: Karim Nader Studio, On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon.
Axonometric.
0File name: On the Rocks - DW 01
Caption: Karim Nader Studio, On the Rocks in Faqra, Lebanon. Ground floor plan.

25Press office
For additional information, toreceive high resolution images andto set up an interview with thearchitect you may contact:
Cultivar
c/o Image
via Venti Settembre 84
50129 Firenze, Italypress@cultivar.agency
tel +39 055 4684 187