City in Scenes – City in Portraits Solidere Annual Report 2011 Special Edition

Cities are made of scenes that reflect how people move, congregate, pause and adopt behaviours in the urban environment. “City in Scenes”, the first of two parts of Solidere’s annual report, documents the dialogue between people and the built environment through text, conversations and images – recounting the story of Beirut City Centre across time and space. These dimensions are emphasised in the use of numerical timeframes for each image marking the change in the urban scene. The second part “City in Portraits” portrays people who live and work in the city centre. Their stories form a constellation of experiences that refract the city as a portrait of the city through its people. Sunlight to back light, architectural patterns to facial expression: the Solidere Annual Report 2011 Special Edition reflects the renewed brand, Places for Life, as it considers how the tides of history, urban development and daily life find expression in the interrelationships between people and their city. Statement by the jury »The annual report by Solidere documents the changes across time in Beirut via a tour through the city, showing how new buildings are erected and shops develop. Photography, typography, graphics and illustration are combined into a harmonious overall unity which, compiled into two volumes, embodies a concept that consistently retraces the development of this city.«