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Inside Lebanon’s Forgotten Fairground of the Future
Updated 11:54 AM EDT, Thu July 21, 2016
Lebanon’s futuristic fairground — The ancient Lebanese port city of Tripoli is home to an unlikely futuristic fairground designed by Oscar Niemeyer, one of the founding fathers of modernist architecture.The park was never finished. Civil war halted construction in 1975. Buildings — like this convention hall — have largely been deserted ever since.Tripoli is known for its centuries-old mosques and traditional architecture, which makes it an unlikely location for an experimental sound dome and other cutting-edge structures.Apart from some damage inflicted during the civil war and Syrian army occupation in the 1980s, the site remains largely intact. But few people visit the park except evening joggers and occasional tourists.Niemeyer’s helipad is shaped like a lotus flower, with a bright red spiral staircase leading from the landing surface to ground level. A subterranean space museum was originally planned underneath the helipad.The Lebanese Pavilion is another highlight of the park. Inspired by Lebanon’s traditional architecture, it’s the only major departure from Niemeyer’s signature space-age design style.The theater is the focal point of the park. It hosted ballets and rock concerts in the 1990s, but these days typically attracts only skateboarders.The concrete stage with its sail-shaped sound amplifier (Niemeyer called it a voile acoustique, or acoustics veil), and the white seats added in the ’90s are perhaps the most photographed sites in the park.Intended as a performance space, the dome has a central stage powered by a hydraulic jet to adjust the height. There’s also a stage behind the audience area to allow for a surrounding effect.The entrance to the park, or the Gate, is an eight-meter high structure. Its open design gives viewers their first view of various sites in the park.
