Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon
Author | : Ward Vloeberghs |
Publisher | : BRILL |
Total Pages | : 477 |
Release | : 2015-11-24 |
ISBN-10 | : 9789004307056 |
ISBN-13 | : 9004307052 |
Rating | : 4/5 (56 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: In Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon, Ward Vloeberghs explores Rafiq Hariri’s patronage and his posthumous legacy to demonstrate how religious architecture becomes a site for power struggles in contemporary Beirut. By tracing the 150 year-long history of the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque – Lebanon’s principal Sunni mosque – and the subsequent development of the site as a commemoration venue, this account offers a unique illustration of how architecture, religion and power become discursively and visually entangled. Set in a multi-confessional society marked by social inequalities and political fragmentation, this interdisciplinary study analyses how architectural practice and urban reconfigurations reveal a nascent personality cult, communal mourning, and the consolidation of political territory in relation to constantly shifting circumstances.