Layers of History in Downtown Beirut | Rayya Haddad

Ottoman History Podcast

E508 | The modern history of Beirut has been defined by periods of intense construction, destruction, and reconstruction. In this episode, we explore the layers of history in Beirut's cityscape through a walking tour with Rayya Haddad. We chart Beirut's transformation from its rise as a late Ottoman capital through the expansion of the port during the French Mandate period, its golden age as a commercial center in independent Lebanon during the 1950s and 60s, the long civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990, and the postwar reconstruction carried out by the company Solidere. We also explore the history of Beit Beirut, a unqiue building designed by Youssef Aftimus--Beirut's foremost architect of the late Ottoman and French Mandate period--from its Mediterranean revivalist origins to its redesign as a sniper's haven during the war, ending with its rescue and renovation by activists in recent decades. We conclude with some thoughts on what this layered history of the city means for the new layer of destruction and reconstruction created by the explosion in the port during August 2020. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2021/07/beirut.html Now based in the U.S., Rayya Haddad carries her camera, and her passion for dance, percussion, Mother Nature and food with her wherever she goes. She has created interventions, performances, photographic projects and installations that illuminate alternative possibilities to the limitations and restrictions placed on so many based on race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration or social status, gender and sexual identity, and more. With commercial photography her work is primarily focused on the following 3 subjects; product ranging from jewelry to the culinary arts; music, dance, theatre and performance art, and family portraiture. She received a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago after her studies of sociology in New Orleans, Louisiana. CREDITS Episode No. 508 Release Date: 29 July 2021 Recording Location: Beirut Music and sound elements (by order of appearance): Nasri Shamseddine - Samhina; BBC - بيروت مدينة منكوبة; Karawan - Ya Ganna; This Week - The Agony of Lebanon; Azar Habib - Ya Rayeh; Eudet Kaado - Mowasheh El Rabiy; Soapkills - Aranis; Prof. Elia Baida - Yalli Hajarti Habayeb; Soft and Furious - So What? Sound production by Chris Gratien Additional thanks to Sam Dolbee