Interdesign Building / Khalil Khouri | Classics On Architecture Lab

Architects: Khalil Khouri
Year: 1973
Photographs: Bernard Khoury, Walid Rashid, Camille Ammoun, Trevor Patt
City: Beirut
Country: Lebanon

Interdesign Building showroom designed by Khalil Khouri in Beirut has reflected a modernist vision rooted in the economic optimism of early 1970s Lebanon and was completed in 1996 after a 23-year interruption caused by the Lebanese Civil War. The building originated during an expansion of the Khouri family’s furniture enterprise, Interdesign, which sought to embody Modernist design principles and make contemporary furniture accessible across the MENA region. Intended to serve as a symbolic and functional face of this progress, the building broke ground in 1973 but halted at the onset of war. Although Khouri eventually completed the building after the war, changing economic and urban conditions rendered it commercially obsolete. In May 2024, Khouri’s descendants temporarily reopened it for a public exhibition honoring his work. The exterior, defined by exposed concrete towers separated by a narrow glazed strip and capped by a distinct rooftop volume, presents a Brutalist image. Inside, the 24-floor structure contrasts sharply through its white palette and spatial sequencing of stairs and voids, guiding visitors through varied vantage points to view the furniture displays. The building today stands as an architectural record of Khouri’s enduring belief in Modernism as a philosophical movement.

In Beirut, a city shaped by ongoing transformation, the Interdesign Building reflects the vision of an architect committed to his ideals. Designed by Lebanese architect Khalil Khouri in 1973 during a period of economic growth, the building required 23 years to complete, with construction interrupted by the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. By its completion in 1996, the surrounding urban context had significantly changed. The structure has remained largely unused since then, serving as a relic of an optimistic modernist era. Though its design is distinct in both narrative and form, the building embodies the ongoing tension between ambition and adversity across its complex history.

Interdesign building / khalil khouri | classics on architecture lab — Interdesign Building / Khalil Khouri | Classics on Architecture Lab 63

The Interdesign showroom building was conceived during a period of growth in Khalil Khouri’s furniture business, intended to embody the Modernist principles that defined his design philosophy. After a successful early career as an architect during the “golden years” of the Lebanese Republic, Khouri shifted his focus to furniture design, continuing the family enterprise. The Interdesign furniture manufacturing business had its roots 20 to 30 years earlier in the custom work of his father, Elias El-Khouri, a carpenter and ebonist. Khalil and his brother Georges Khouri carried the venture forward, launching the first modern furniture line in the early 1960s.

By designing and producing a new model of furniture locally, the Interdesign business made modern furniture design more accessible in the MENA region, offering it as an affordable option to a broader public. Khalil Khouri’s business model was defined by a distinctive integration of design and manufacturing. He not only created the furniture designs but also owned and managed the production facilities, a combination that enabled him to innovate and develop specialized technologies for furniture manufacturing. By the mid-1960s, Interdesign had become the leading producer of modern furniture in the region and had successfully entered challenging export markets, including those in Europe and the United States. The Interdesign showroom building was intended to serve as the architectural representation of this progress.

The showroom building project was initiated in 1973, with Khalil Khouri serving simultaneously as architect, client, and developer. Construction started shortly thereafter but was halted in 1975 following the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. Throughout the conflict, multiple attempts were made to resume the work, which had reached ground level by April 1975, though no substantial progress occurred.

After the war ended in the early 1990s, Beirut’s socio-economic conditions had changed significantly. Nevertheless, Khalil Khouri remained committed to completing the construction, despite mounting debt and declining business prospects. The building was ultimately completed in 1996, 23 years after construction first began.

The architect designs and builds furniture in a factory that he has designed and built, with machines that he has designed and built. And now he designs and builds the showroom in which he’s going to showcase his furniture.

– Bernard Khoury

In the early 1990s, the socio-economic landscape of Beirut had undergone significant change. Despite the ambitious vision and substantial investments behind the project, the company faced bankruptcy by the mid-1990s due to shifting economic conditions. The location of the showroom also lost its appeal, making it less attractive to potential visitors. As a result, the building was never used for its intended purpose. After being seized by the banks, several uses were tested, including a brief period as a training center, but the structure proved unsuitable for these functions. It eventually fell into disrepair and was abandoned.

In May 2024, the building was reactivated for a four-day exhibition dedicated to Khalil Khouri’s life and work, organized by his son and grandson, Bernard and Teymour Khoury. The event allowed the public to enter the structure for the first time since its conception 51 years earlier.

The angular exterior volume of the building forms a distinct Brutalist image. Its composition features two towers made of exposed concrete, separated by a narrow strip of glazing. The concave forms of the towers conceal side windows, reinforcing the building’s opaque and imposing appearance. A boulder-shaped roof, detached from the main structure, adds to the visual presence of the building. This upper volume, conceived as the “head” of the structure, houses the administrative functions, including a small meeting room and the manager’s office. At street level, two window displays, now sealed, were originally designed to offer a view into the Interdesign showroom.

In clear contrast to its exterior, the interior of the Interdesign Building presents a soft and light-filled atmosphere. Spanning 24 floors, the space is defined by an all-white palette that enhances the flow of natural light. The arrangement of stairs, voids, and interconnected levels is designed to shift the position of the viewer in relation to the displayed objects. As visitors move through the building, the displays are seen from above, below, or at eye level. Through this spatial composition, Khalil Khouri reverses the conventional relationship between architecture and object, allowing the architecture to serve and emphasize the furniture rather than using the furniture to define the space.

The Interdesign Building stands as a significant work of architecture, not only for its innovative design and ambitious vision but also as a reflection of Lebanon’s socio-political and economic history. While many local architects shifted away from Modernism after 1970, Khalil Khouri maintained his commitment to it as a philosophical movement rather than a stylistic trend. That conviction remains embedded in the concrete structure of the Interdesign Building in Beirut.