# Bernard Khoury | On Karantina, Solidere & Practicing Architecture in Lebanon

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/bernard-khoury-on-karantina-solidere-practicing-architecture-in-lebanon
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/bernard-khoury-on-karantina-solidere-practicing-architecture-in-lebanon.md
Podcast: [The afikra Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518)
Published: 2025-11-17T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://afikra.simplecast.com/episodes/bernard-khoury-5ZK_9KaL
Audio file: https://afp-922695-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/96f7a68b-b919-40fb-9d0c-366fc6f2d79c/episodes/bc9e772f-dd0d-489b-83e3-f1fb4fbd3c6e/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=96f7a68b-b919-40fb-9d0c-366fc6f2d79c&awEpisodeId=bc9e772f-dd0d-489b-83e3-f1fb4fbd3c6e&feed=mQeVlZL1
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/episodes/bernard-khoury-on-karantina-solidere-practicing-architecture-in-lebanon
Duration seconds: 2724

## Resource

We visited renowned architect Bernard Khoury in his studio in Karantina, who offered a critical, unvarnished look at the reality of practicing architecture in Lebanon, contrasting it with the sugarcoated story of the "Phoenix coming out of its ashes". He discusses his career beginnings, the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and how his first project—the infamous B018 nightclub—was a radically specific and necessary response to the city’s complex, macabre history and unstable political and economic context. Khoury shares his philosophical approach to architecture, which rejects stylistic gestures in favor of an obsession with specificity and a direct confrontation with Beirut's explosive nature, arguing for a practice that produces honest, if sometimes "sour" meaning in the present rather than succumbing to toxic simplifications.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/episodes/bernard-khoury-on-karantina-solidere-practicing-architecture-in-lebanon/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/bernard-khoury-on-karantina-solidere-practicing-architecture-in-lebanon.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.