The impression I had of the structure from the highway (the elevated road in the picture) was that it was really crammed into the available space. But here somewhat southeast of it, well, the surroundings almost look roomy.
But just to prove that it looks altogether different from the highway, here's the view approaching from the south:
That's it, to the left of the speed limit sign--with two minarets swathed in green gauze. It looks miraculously wedged into a tiny space. This next shot, taken from the west, is rather blighted by the highway. This face of the building should look familiar if you saw the photo I posted before. The three mostly-obscured-arches are the same ones captured in my previous post. Obviously, they're best viewed from the highway rather than below it.
I walked under the highway and continued on for another few hundred feet to get a picture of the east-facing side:
I noticed some workers and zoomed in.
When it's finished I want to go back and take some more pictures. They've finished a lot of nice carved stone ornamentation and I can't get a good picture of it until the green gauze hanging in front of it is taken down.
This is an amazing series of photos giving us a wonderful view of this building and the surrounding area. Thanks for giving us a peek. I'll look forward to the finished building.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrific coverage, Mary Ann. Thank you. Did you get a feel for the eventual purpose of this building?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why in Beirut there is still a lot of ornamented stone work in buildings? Why not just acres of glass like elsewhere? Is a stone building kept naturally cooler?
Do the guy working here have any protective clothing?
I'm quite sure it is a mosque--the minarets, the arabesque designs on the facade and the Arabic script. All typical mosque stuff. It's the verticality that puzzles me. I've only ever seen profoundly horizontal mosques. I wonder how the vertical arrangement will impact worship in this space.
ReplyDelete'Stone' buildings are usually poured concrete faced in thin layers of stone. I'm no expert, but concrete structures do seem to be cool, cave-like, good a deflecting heat. There are lots of contemporary secular buildings that are quite dominated by glass, though.
No protective gear, I'm afraid.