“I refuse to be labeled as an architect of thegeneration of war. I do not find interest inarchitecture as a war machine, nor in thewar-torn building aesthetic. Beirut shouldbe architecturally represented as alwaysalive, forward looking, because forward isthe way of life,” Architect Karim Nader writes in For A Novel Architecture (2020).

The Lebanese architect is engaged in preserving thearchitectural heritage of the cityof Beirut as well as optimisticallycommitted to acts of reprise in sitesscarred by destruction. As part of his commitment to thereprise of the city of Beirut, and inaddition to his projects to restoreiconic buildings from the modernistera, Karim Nader has also workedon several residential projects. His recent work, Anthony Apartment, located in the Port of Beirut speaks of this dedication.

Set on the 20th floor, itsmodernist architectural referencesbrought to life in a play of lights andshadows, colors and muted grays.

Karim Nader Studio. Anthony Apartment in Beirut, Lebanon. couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Extrasoft, designer: Piero Lissoni; coffee tables | brand: Mogg, model: Illusioni, designer: Sebastiano Tosi; painting | artist: Marwan Sahmarani; sculpture | artist: Alfred Basbous; armchairs | model: Wassily, designer: Marcel Breuer Marwan Harmouche

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The apartment benefits from aspectacular exposure to light and view. Maybe too much of an exposure, so muchlight that it demands a darkening.

Combined with a certain affinity for modernity and the purity of its lines, cleararchitectural references - Gerrit Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Eileen Grey... find their way asthe necessary accents in primary color of an otherwise neutral background.

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Extrasoft, designer: Piero Lissoni; coffee tables | brand: Mogg, model: Illusioni, designer: Sebastiano Tosi; painting | artist: Marwan Sahmarani; sculpture | artist: Alfred Basbous; armchairs | model: Wassily, designer: Marcel BreuerMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - dining table | model: Grid Nature, designer: Karim Nader Studio; dining chairs | brand: Knoll, model: Roquebrune, designer: Eileen Grey; chandelier | brand: Fabraca, model: Calder Revisit, designer: Karim Nader; painting | artist: Paul Guiragossian; console | model: Grid Light, designer: Karim Nader StudioMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - coffee table | brand: Poltrona Frau, model: Geometrie; armchair | brand: Cassina, model: Utrecht, designer: Gerrit Rietveld; couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Rod, designer: Piero Lissoni; carpet | designer: Eileen Grey; suspensions | brand: Plumen, model: Alta Light; bar stools | brand: Magis, model: Troy, designer: Marcel Wanders studioMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - dining table | model: Grid Nature, designer: Karim Nader Studio; dining chairs | brand: Knoll, model: Roquebrune, designer: Eileen Grey; chandelier | brand: Fabraca, model: Calder Revisit, designer: Karim Nader; painting | artist: Paul GuiragossianMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - coffee tables| brand: Mogg, model: Illusioni, designer: Sebastiano Tosi; day bed | model: Barcelona, designer: Mies van der RoheMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - chair | brand: Knoll, model: Bertoia, designer: Harry Bertoia; library bar | model: Moving Grid, designer: Karim Nader Studio; painting | artist: Chafic AbboudMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - lounge chair | brand: Cassina, model: LC4, designer: Le Corbusier; sculpture | artist: Nayla RomanosMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Extrasoft, designer: Piero Lissoni; library bar | model: Moving Grid, designer: Karim Nader StudioMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - coffee table | brand: Poltrona Frau, model: Geometrie; armchair | brand: Cassina, model: Red Blue, Special Edition Green, designer: Gerrit Rietveld; floor lamp | brand: Artemide, model: Tolomeo, designer: Michele de Lucchi with Giancarlo FassinaMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - desk system | model: Platforms, designer: Karim Nader Studio; chair | brand: Vitra, model: Standard, designer: Jean ProuvéMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - Karim Nader Studio. Anthony apartment in Beirut, Lebanon. Marwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Extrasoft, designer: Piero Lissoni; coffee tables | brand: Mogg, model: Illusioni, designer: Sebastiano Tosi; day bed | model: Barcelona, designer: Mies van der Rohe; armchairs | model: Wassily, designer: Marcel BreuerMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - table | brand: Cassina, model: Accordo, designer: Charlotte Perriand;bed / seating | model: Platforms, designer: Karim Nader StudioMarwan Harmouche

Anthony Apartment By Karim Nader - bed | model: Red Yellow Blue, designer: Karim Nader Studio; lamp | brand: Vitra, model: Potence, designer: Jean Prouvé; chair | brand: Cassina, model: Zigzag, designer: Gerrit RietveldMarwan Harmouche

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The consistent grey cement palette on floor and walls is only contradicted by thelightness of a natural wood ceiling where a Calder-like ‘mobile’ serves as a decorativelight accent. Dark corridor and apartment entrance serve as ‘blind transitions’ whilethe multi-guest bedroom doubles as a yoga space and home office.

Karim Nader Studio. Anthony apartment in Beirut, Lebanon; dining table | model: Grid Nature, designer: Karim Nader Studio; dining chairs | brand: Knoll, model: Roquebrune, designer: Eileen Grey; chandelier | brand: Fabraca, model: Calder Revisit, designer: Karim Nader; painting | artist: Paul Guiragossian Marwan Harmouche

When Beirut eventually overlays itself in this modernist Mondrian-like collage, it isonce again its moving shadows that activate all perspectives of this multi-layeredcity: north towards the port, south and east towards the mountains and westtowards the central district.

Caption: Karim Nader Studio. Anthony apartment in Beirut, Lebanon; couch | brand: Living Divani, model: Extrasoft, designer: Piero Lissoni; coffee tables | brand: Mogg, model: Illusioni, designer: Sebastiano Tosi; day bed | model: Barcelona, designer: Mies van der Rohe; armchairs | model: Wassily, designer: Marcel Breuer Marwan Harmouhce

About The Architect

Karim Nader is an architect, teacher and yogi. Born in 1976 in Lebanon, he studiedat 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 builtin Lebanon and the world. He is currently running Karim Nader Studio, an architectureand design practice based in Beirut. Since 2000, Karim Nader has taught at theAmerican University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University and the Politecnicodi Milano.

His references vary from Zen Buddhism to Westernphilosophy 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 beenwidely 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. The book was awarded“Le Geste d’Or” in Paris in 2021.

Architect Karim Nader Courtesy of Karim Nader Studio