Designing for hyper-capitalist environments

My clients today are involved in private ventures driven by finance and commerce. This is where I operate. Simply put, I build for the rich. I don’t do social housing. I don’t do governmental projects. I don’t build schools or museums and I probably never will. Nevertheless I believe that there is much to accomplish in the private sphere. Cities are built by the private sector through projects that are primarily driven by financial profit. This is a reality in Beirut. This is the reality of every developing city everywhere. Denying this reality will prevent us from taking part in the making of our cities. Relevant architecture should not be limited to exceptional programs such as schools, corporate headquarters of international companies, museums, and public libraries. Most of what the architectural press and our beautiful design books cover in their polished and well written articles does not effect me. Having started my career working for the entertainment industry, my second wave of projects came from the banking sector. This tells you a lot about the kind of environment I operate in and the realities that interest me. Many of the projects we are working on are located in the Gulf region. I find pleasure in the complexity and the difficulties I encounter in the contexts I work in. Sometimes the picture is not so pretty, but this is where I choose to be and I don’t want to be anywhere else. Architects shouldn’t think of their work as representations of the city, instead, they should be real players in the city. City planners think the city through morphological terms, I think of a city as a set of experiences. Where I come from you can never sleep. I live in a world that keeps me awake.