For a Novel Architecture

Karim Nader, architect in Beirut since 1999 tells us the ideas and stories behind his latest book “For a Novel Architecture, ciné-roman 2000-2020.” Half novel, half monograph, the book is a cinematic musing into the world of the architect, his sources and references from the literary and philosophical world, and a 20-year retrospective of his professional work through photography only.

Firm believer in the power of architecture to transcend the limiting vision of the global market as well as the psychological hurdles that are often self-imposed, he practices an architectural middle- way that seeks to explore the potential of every site and situation through a novel spatial expression that finds its roots in the narratives of the place both humane and historical. The architectural project seeks to extend the narratives into the ‘natural’ next chapter of their own unfolding stories through the act of designing and building. His references vary from Zen Buddhism to Western philosophy in a liberty to quote from the hybrid roots that make the Lebanese subject.

Karim Nader, architect in Beirut since 1999 tells us the ideas and stories behind his latest book “For a Novel Architecture, ciné-roman 2000-2020.” Half novel, half monograph, the book is a cinematic musing into the world of the architect, his sources and references from the literary and philosophical world, and a 20-year retrospective of his professional work through photography only. The work of his studio as well as the fruit of previous collaborations has been widely published in the international press with notable acclaim and recognition both on built work and competitions. For a Novel Architecture is his first retrospective book covering the years 2000 to 2020.

Karim Nader is an architect, teacher and yogi. Born in 1976 in Lebanon under the sign of the Gemini, he has studied at the American University of Beirut (Bachelor of Architecture with distinction, 1999) and at Rice University in Houston, in the United States of America (Master of Architecture, 2003). He has been practicing architecture forthe last 20 years with work designed and built in Lebanon and the world. He is currently running Karim Nader Studio, an architecture and design practice based in Beirut. He has been also teaching architectural studios and theoretical electives at universities in Lebanon since the year 2000.