The American Life Insurance Building in Beirut, Lebanon (1967-72) by Irving & Jones, and Arkbuild
Photographs by Elie Aramouny and Karim Andary.
The below article was written by Friedrich Ragette and appeared on pages 7-13 of the July/August 1971 print edition of Saudi Aramco World.
American Life Insurance Building
To Irving and Jones, the Beirut architects who won the contract to design a Middle East heading quarters for the American Life Insurance Company, the problem of weaving Arab themes into contemporary structures was less pressing; Beirut is increasingly as much a showcase for international architecture as for Arab buildings. The result in this case, nevertheless, is markedly eastern.
Irving and Jones, working with Arkbuild, Beirut architects and engineers, had to create a structure that would have dignity, would suggest a discreet prosperity and would look well in a setting of pines just off the boulevard to the Beirut International Airport.
But the primary need was functional. The building had to incorporate the latest in climate control, illumination, sound-conditioning and communications, and offer unobstructed inferior space for flexible portioning.
The design that the architects eventually worked out has given Beirut one of its most handsome buildings. It is quietly elegant, impressive, attractive, yet very functional.
In order to avoid unnecessary internal columns, the peripheral supports were turned into a colonnade encompassing the whole building. But in bracing the top the architects seized the chance to introduce an emphatic eastern flavor by inserting a series of graceful pointed arches at the top and suspending a closely woven metal screen between the columns to shield the three upper floors from excessive sunlight. Executed in aluminum but tinted like bronze, the screen is clearly derived from the mashrabieh screens which long ago hid harem beauties from sight yet permitted them to see out and get fresh air.