The Egg’s Beirut
“Explore the evolution of the great city of Beirut through Joseph Philippe Karam’s most infamous structure, Beirut City Center, also known as “The Egg.” Interactively examine 17 different historical photographs and maps with the world’s first Pedalographic system - mark, measure, and isolate information from the Paris of the Middle East like you never knew was possible.”
In the heart of Beirut, the decades-old unfinished structure of The Egg remains standing today as a curiously informal memorial to the Lebanese Civil War. Flanked by development and growth on all sides, it remains a lone totem to the city’s dynamic past. How can we holistically understand the life of the city as a living landscape by observing it through the life of The Egg’s short-lived concrete shell?
The Egg’s Beirut, developed in 2018 to accompany The Pedalographer, aggregates maps and images of Beirut’s central district and harbor from 1923 to 2018. Tracing the city’s journey following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, World War 1, World War 2, The Lebanese Civil War, The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, and other events, The Egg’s Beirut frames the city as a living landscape of culture, people, and places. Ebbing and flowing with the tides of time, the VHS format of the film enables users to intuitively “speed up” and “reverse” the city’s fourth dimension.
The film is not meant to be consumed as a stand-alone video, but rather a moving canvas for the Pedalographer’s activities.
View an Excerpt (video) From The EgG’s Beirut below:
