This short film looks at the work of the Lebanese architect Antoine Tabet (19071964) told through two of his buildings and two protagonists. One building, the Sagesse College built in 1937 in Beirut is introduced by his son, the Lebanese historian and president of the Order of Enginneers and Architects in Lebanon, Jad Tabet. The other, the Raja Rais Housing Complex built around the same time in Haifa through a devoted preservationist and head of the Haifa Municipality, Waleed Karkabi. Despite the similarities between these buildings and the obvious continuities of the work of Tabet across the boders of the Middle East, the story of his work remains today largely inaccessible for both protagonists as they can not officially work together or exchange their knowledge. This film points to the shared space, shared history, shared ecology and shared humanity of a region torn and divided by political borders.
Transfer Global Architecture Platform, is a new digital editorial project based on the production and transmission of architectural knowledge with the aim of connecting contemporary ideas and practices to build a global architectural culture.
Centre for Documentary Architecture