The Trail takes the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, in 2005, as a starting point and only includes the assassinations that physically changed the urban surroundings. In many places, the aftermath of the attacks contributed to a proliferation of public spaces in the city: they spawned the creation of parks, squares and monuments. As such, the assassinations have become an elementary force in the contemporary spatial and urban development of the city.
Assassination Tour, Beirut
Hardcore tour of Beirut
The Assassination Tour of Joe Mounzer (architect and founding member of Studio Beirut) is devised to create some sort of understanding on the dark and violent currents that flow underneath the surface of this city. Although the all-out civil war ended in the early nineties, the city still sees occasional burps of extreme violence: assassinations. Awareness of this frail truce with its violent currents are a major part of the local mindset.
St. George Hotel where Rafic Hariri was assissinated. - Photo by Aldask, found on Flickr .