a shrine for the city redefines public and private in beirut
A mirrored incision on the streetfront in Beirut shapes a threshold between city and gallery. Titled A Shrine for the City, the ephemeral intervention by Studio Etienne Bastormagi configures a boundary between the institutional and the public realm for a playful new spatial interface that is porous and responsive to its surrounding rhythms. During its weeklong installation in July, it invites public use in different ways, from staging spontaneous gatherings to performances and discussions.
The reflective intervention coincides with the second anniversary of Takeover Gallery and marks a return for Etienne Bastormagi, whose studio previously occupied the space. As the Lebanese architect notes, his aim is to ‘reframe, not reclaim,’ and by removing the gallery’s facade, the project opens the space fully to the street, rendering what is conventionally an enclosed, curated interior as an outward-facing opening, accessible around the clock.
all images courtesy of Etienne Bastormagi
etienne bastormagi carves a mirrored open urban threshold
The work draws on Beirut’s vernacular language, particularly the mirrored shrines found throughout the city — makeshift memorials or spiritual markers embedded into urban surfaces. A Shrine for the City expands this typology to an architectural scale, without losing its intimacy. The reflective skin invites passersby to pause in their journeys, to glimpse themselves framed in the city, and to step in without instruction. In doing so, it shifts the experience of both gallery and street.
The mirrored surfaces reflect, absorb, and invite, and light, movement, and ambient noise are registered as spatial materials themselves. This responsiveness aligns with Etienne Bastormagi’s broader practice, which frequently works within tight constraints to uncover latent spatial potential. Here, the small 20 square meter footprint becomes a site of encounter activated in different conditions at various times of day, with the architecture framing the encounters.
project info:
name: A Shrine for the City
architect: Studio Etienne Bastormagi | @studio__etiennebastormagi
location: Beirut, Lebanon
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