karim nader’s hybrid glass house nears completion in mount lebanon

the stone, steel, and glass design pays tribute to american architect philip johnson's famed project completed in 1949.

lea zeitoun January 26, 2023 3 min

karim nader pays tribute to Philip Johnson’s glass house

The ‘Glass House’ by architect Karim Nader nears completion in Baakline, a town located in Mount Lebanon’s Chouf District, 45 kilometers southeast of Beirut. This tribute in stone, steel, and glass to the eponymous 1955 project by American architect Philip Johnson takes a rural and ecological twist, stemming from a personal reinterpretation of traditional elements in the modernist icon. According to Nader, his interpretation of the ‘Glass House’ hybridizes Johnson’s approach, resulting in a less dogmatic and more adaptable residential design that responds to its context.

‘Confronted with the unusual request of a glass house in the Chouf, we seek to engage the desired classical icon – its exposed black steel structure, oversized glass, and otherwise warm earthy materials, with the technologies of the age and the heritage of our village architecture,’ writes the architect.

karim nader's hybrid glass house nears completion in mount lebanon - 1 — all images © Dia Mrad (unless stated otherwise)

BUILDING A hybrid structure of interconnected units

Materializing his unique approach, Karim Nader (see more here) composed the ‘Glass House’ without using concrete. Instead, he combined an exposed minimal steel structure with natural stone masonry to devise a strange hybrid that stacks three little pavilions atop a thin glass plate with a cantilevered ceiling.

Program-wise, the ground floor plan articulates itself around a ‘high-tech’ openable central living room and bar bordered by two reflective pools, a fireplace on one side, and an open kitchen and dining on the other. A system of minimal aluminum mullions extensively blurs out the house boundary, while the wooden ceiling canopy provides the needed warmth and shading. Above, three pitched volumes hold bedrooms for children and a master suite overlooking the Chouf area.

karim nader's hybrid glass house nears completion in mount lebanon - 2 — the ‘Glass House’ nears completion in Lebanon’s Chouf district

celebrating lebanon’s rural landscape

Furthermore, panoramic views towards Beirut, Deir el Qamar and Beiteddine open up on a right angle at the intersection of the north and west terraces extending to an expansive garden of olive trees, pines, play areas, and a pool with a guest area below.

The highly textured stone construction is carried to the interior, reaching the bedrooms, bathrooms, and changing areas. In between the three pavilions, two glazed passageways reassert the residents’ immersion within the landscape while photovoltaic panels, rainwater collection, and other innovative energy systems almost completely cover the rooftops.

‘In black and stone, the steel of Johnson and stones recycled from ruins of nearby houses, our vernacular tradition moves forward with the advent of new technologies and a globalized exposure to modernist international style for the pleasure of being, today, in rural Lebanon,’ concludes Karim Nader.