Project Description:
The Rachid Karame International Fair is on architectural
gem, tucked away but certainly not unknown. An unfi nished
project by Brazilian modernist Oscar Niemeyer, the fair was
designed in 1963 and abandoned in 1975 with the start
of the Lebanese civil war. Today, its monumental concrete
follies stand as landmarks.
Designed during Lebanon’s golden age -the 60s- RKIF’s
ambition, scale, and modernity are representative of the
time. Today it stands as on abandoned naked concrete
structure, with no real effort placed towards its
revitalization. Plans to revive the expansive site surface
frequently, and fade away with matching regularity. Recent
attempts, including a competition initiated by the Tripoli
Special Economic Zone for a Knowledge and Innovation
Center, leave critical questions unaddressed.
Gray Noise, a speculative narrative in which Niemeyer’s
iconic structures come to life, brings these issues to the
forefront to instigate a public discussion. The project
illustrates the follies rescuing themselves from neglect as
they come together to form a hybrid creature that
eventually walks away from the site, leaving only a glitching
memory of what once was. Presented as a storyboard,
former glory, present intrigue and future reminiscence are
then refuted as one, and on independent novel self
emerges only to disappear once more.
[1.] Hello? Where did everybody go? Everything’s silent after the show.
[2.] They left me here, broken, undone. And now I don’t know who I’ve become.
[3.] I’ll pick up the pieces and go my own way. There’s nothing left here, why would I stay.