Meaning (A)Drift: The Movement in the Holiday Inn Beirut's Socio-Political Narrative

This thesis explores the movement in the Holiday Inn Beirut's socio-political narrative and traces the hotel's transformation from a modernist icon, to a war apparatus, to an unintentional monument. The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) has had a lasting impact on the city and its urban relics. Among these relics is the Holiday Inn Beirut. Commissioned by developer Abdal Mohsin Kattan, the Holiday Inn Beirut was designed by French architect André Wogenscky, an associate of Le Corbusier's Rue de Sèvres studio, and his Lebanese associate Maurice Hindie. This multi-method research project explores the hotel's socio-political narrative. It results in the production and curation of an exhibition of dioramas, video and postcard installation of the hotel's spaces. Through this exhibition, viewers are invited to physically enter and explore the Holiday Inn Beirut as a lived and experienced space. It is an exercise in learning how to construct meaning into space.