lina ghotmeh discusses 'how will we live together?'

lina ghotmeh joins ‘building conversations’ series by holcim

at the 2021 venice architecture biennale, holcim – a global leader in sustainable building solutions – invited twelve innovative and inspiring architects to partake in a video series called ‘building conversations’. in the second episode of the series, lebanese architect lina ghotmeh discusses the 17th international architecture exhibition as well as its theme: ‘how will we live together?’.

‘it is a very relevant question,’ says the paris-based architect, ‘because it makes us wonder, first, who ‘we’ are […] diverse beings, coming from different cultures, different origins, different beliefs, but also as diverse species on this planet.’ all interviews by holcim are available on the company’s youtube channel, while they will also be presented in a series of upcoming articles on designboom.

‘stone garden’ by lina ghotmeh architecture at the 2021 venice architecture biennale

image courtesy of lina ghotmeh architecture

about lina ghotmeh

lina ghotmeh (find more here) was born and raised in beirut, a cosmopolitan city marked by the scars of the lebanese civil war. she completed her architectural studies at the american university of beirut, exploring the notions of memory, space and landscape through her own methodology titled ‘archeology of the future’. after graduating and being awarded the AZAR and AREEN prizes, ghotmeh continued her education at the école spéciale d’architecture in paris, where she also took on a teaching role as an associate professor. in 2005, while working in london and collaborating with ateliers jean nouvel and foster & partners, she won the international competition for the design of the national estonian museum. after this, she co-founded her first agency DGT architects in paris and led the realization of the museum, which has since won the grand prix AFEX award 2016 and has been nominated for the mies van der rohe award 2017.

thanks to her extensive and diverse experiences, as well as her deep interest and engagement in today’s challenges, lina ghotmeh is regularly invited to speak at conferences, take part in juries and workshops all over the globe. in ‘building conversations’, she presents ‘stone garden’, her recently completed tower in beirut, portraying the capacity of architecture to be an active player in building resilience at times of crisis.

‘stone garden’ by lina ghotmeh architecture at the 2021 venice architecture biennale

image courtesy of lina ghotmeh architecture

lina ghotmeh and holcim on waste and resources

lina ghotmeh is the protagonist of the second episode of the ‘building conversations’ series. in her interview with holcim (find more here), the lebanese architect touches on the theme of this year’s biennale theme, ‘how will we live together?’‘it challenges the way we think about our resources – and about how we build. if we have to live together, first thing is we have to share, rather than consume,’ says ghotmeh. ‘you don’t consume your environment; you share it. so, in that sense, it allows us to think about a way of constructing […] where there’s no waste, because the notion of waste is completely absurd.’

these issues of waste and resources are increasingly pressing in today’s world, where the equivalent of a new york city is built every month. elaborating on the serious questions about how well we utilize materials, holcim poses its own concerns regarding the topic itself, as well as a wide range of similar issues: how will we build these new spaces? with 1.2 billion people lacking adequate shelter and sanitation today and 6.5 billion people expected to live in cities by 2050 – how do we build greener cities? or empower society with smarter infrastructure? or improve living standards for all?

‘stone garden’ by lina ghotmeh architecture at the 2021 venice architecture biennale