For decades, Lebanon’s captivating natural environment – from its verdant forests, lush mountain valleys and sandy beaches – has been collateral damage due to war, political instability and unregulated urbanisation.
The recent invasion and heavy shelling by Israel has resulted in more urban and environmental destruction.
At this year’s Venice Biennale of Architecture, which runs from May 10 to November 23, the National Pavilion of Lebanon hopes to rethink the approach to architecture and rebuilding, by making the healing of the land – deeply rooted in Lebanon’s identity, livelihood, history and well-being – an essential part of the recovery.
To be created by Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL), co-curated by Edouard Souhaid, Shereen Doummar, Elias Tamer and Lynn Chamoun, The Land Remembers at Arsenale responds to the biennale’s overarching theme Intelligens: Natural, Collective, Artificial by Carlo Ratti. In this instance, it's about tapping into the intelligence of the land, which is able to regenerate overtime, and the ancient methods used by the land’s custodians.
“Architects need to take a more active role in environmental preservation and post-conflict regeneration, so the pavilion addresses ecocide as an urgent crisis, and it's not merely an exhibition,” Doummar tells The National.
“It's going to be a call for action, confronting the visitors with the reality of ecocide and inviting them to participate in reshaping the future of that environment, through petitions for policy changes.
“As architects, the instinct would be to rebuild right straight away after a conflict, but before we can seek to rebuild, we need to go beyond that, and we need to prioritise the healing of the natural environment first.
“There’s the poisoning of the land via the contamination of soil and water, from heavy metals in the missiles and white phosphorus debris.
“There’s all the debris from the destruction of the urban environment, which affects the natural environment, and the deliberate destruction of agricultural fields and olive groves.
“We're not negating that the urban environment was destroyed either, but we're looking at the intersection between that and the natural environment, which led to the displacement of entire communities.
“When you destroy somebody's agricultural land, you destroy their livelihood. You're purposely destroying their reason to return. It's easy to rebuild a house. It's harder to heal a land that has been poisoned.”
The pavilion assembles documentation of the destruction, exploration of centuries-old agricultural techniques, extensive mapping and potential strategies for land recovery, from a host of researchers, architects and cultural practitioners.
Assembled as a fictional ministry of activism, striving to enact change and encourage architects to take a more political and social role, the pavilion will be split into four ‘departments.’
The first will showcase reports and evidence of intentional destruction, from images and video to sound mapping, and the second is dedicated to charting the changes to the environment through mapping.
The third department will focus on endemic species, preservation work and biodiversity conservation, looking at initiatives that are safeguarding the DNA of the land.
The final department will look at strategies to address the problems and alternative solutions for land rehabilitation, such as biomimicry, reforestation and bioremediation – low-tech methods, some of which have been practised locally for generations, passed down through families.
At the centre of the pavilion, the team will build a structure from compacted soil bricks with wheat seeds embedded. Over the course of the six months the bricks will sprout, symbolising nature's ability to regenerate and hope for the future.
“We chose wheat to anchor the historical significance of Lebanon's natural environment,” Doummar says. “One of the reasons why the natural environment has been targeted so deliberately is to erase that historical significance and relationship with the land.
“Many don’t know, but Lebanon is actually the birthplace of the DNA of wheat. Any type of wheat you see today is a variant of the first grains to have been domesticated for reproduction in the Bekaa Valley 10,000 years ago.
“The most consumed food in the world today, contains DNA that comes from Lebanon. It felt right to have this be the symbol of Lebanon’s special relationship with its environment, which has thrived for so many millennia, and that is in recent times being so deliberately targeted.
“It's a very tactile space. We also have sound elements that are like a mix of the sound of the drones that were flying over Lebanon and the buzzing of the bees, which uncannily sound quite similar, but one represents the destruction, and the other represents the healing of nature.”
A publication is also being produced alongside the exhibition, collecting the research and strategies explored during the forming of the pavilion, to act as an archive that will be built on through a website, long after the end of the biennale.
“The natural environment holds not only the memory of the land to regenerate, but vital resources that we as architects need to safeguard,” Doummar adds. “And in order to do that, we need to redefine our relationship with the land. We just need to help it to preserve itself and remember how to heal.”
Venice Biennale of Architecture 2025 runs from May 10 to November 23
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
SERIE A FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Roma v Udinese (5pm)
SPAL v Napoli (8pm)
Juventus v Torino (10.45pm)
Sunday
Sampdoria v AC Milan (2.30pm)
Inter Milan v Genoa (5pm)
Crotone v Benevento (5pm)
Verona v Lazio (5pm)
Cagliari v Chievo (5pm)
Sassuolo v Bologna (8pm)
Fiorentina v Atalanta (10.45pm)
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Pieces of Her
Stars: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, David Wenham, Omari Hardwick
Director: Minkie Spiro
Rating:2/5
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
Indoor Cricket World Cup
Venue Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE squad Saqib Nazir (captain), Aaqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayyak, Umar Shah, Vikrant Shetty
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
