Lina Ghotmeh

Lina Ghotmeh
Ghotmeh in 2021
Born2 July 1980
Beirut, Lebanon
Alma mater
OccupationArchitect
Awards2020 Erich Schelling Architecture Prize
PracticeLina Ghotmeh – Architecture

Lina Ghotmeh (born 2 July 1980) is a Lebanese-born architect and founding principal of Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture based in Paris, France. Born and raised in Beirut, she introduces a distinctive architectural posture informed by concepts of rebirth and renewal with natural materials and traditional building techniques.[1][2][3][4][5] Her work is celebrated for its sensitivity to history and materiality, linking communities past and present, ultimately seeking to create a sustainable, inclusive architecture.[6]

Ghotmeh's work is characterized as being sustainable and contextually responsive with one foot in the future and one in the past with regards to innovative use of materials informed by historical and environmental research.[7] Her approach is also associated with being "humanist" for celebrating the hand in the making process of architecture.[8] Her notable projects include the Hermès manufacturing facility in Normandy, which is France's first passive low-carbon workshops building,[9] the acclaimed Stone Garden tower in Beirut,[10] the upcoming AlUla Contemporary Art Museum in Saudi Arabia, and the award-winning Estonian National Museum,[11] built in 2016 in Tartu, Estonia. In 2023, Ghotmeh became the fourth woman architect to create the annual Serpentine Pavilion, after the first in 2000 built by Zaha Hadid.

She has received numerous awards, such as the 2020 Schelling Architecture Award[12] given to forward-thinking developments in architecture, with past recipients including Diébédo Francis Kéré, SANAA Architects and Peter Zumthor,[13] as well as the 2023 Architecture and Design Award from Great Arab Minds initiative, also known as the Arab Nobel Prize, granted by the United Arab Emirates.[14]

  1. ^ "Biography". Lina Ghotmeh - Architecture. 2023-03-21.
  2. ^ "" L'impact de l'explosion sur la ville de Beyrouth est total ", Lina Ghotmeh, architecte". Le Moniteur (in French). 2020-08-13.
  3. ^ "Lina Ghotmeh, archéologue du futur". Connaissance des Arts (in French). 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  4. ^ Quinton, Maryse (2018-12-27). "Rencontre : Lina Ghotmeh, architecte et archéologue du futur". IDEAT (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  5. ^ "La tour Stone Garden de l'architecte Lina Ghotmeh, témoin inébranlable d'un Beyrouth meurtri". www.telerama.fr (in French). 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  6. ^ "AA School". www.aaschool.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  7. ^ "AA School". www.aaschool.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  8. ^ "AA School". www.aaschool.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  9. ^ "Hermès Taps Architect Lina Ghotmeh to Create the Saddle Workshop of the Future". Architectural Digest. 2023-08-11. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  10. ^ "Stone Garden by Lina Ghotmeh named architecture project of the year at Dezeen Awards 2021". Dezeen. 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  11. ^ Priest, Isabelle (2023-06-06). "Serpentine Pavilion designer Lina Ghotmeh on her life, work and influences". www.ribaj.com. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  12. ^ "Lina Ghotmeh - Schelling-Architekturstiftung". 2020. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  13. ^ "Diébédo Francis Kéré - Schelling-Architekturstiftung". 2014. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  14. ^ "Sheikh Mohammed names Prof. Lina Ghotmeh winner of Great Arab Minds Award in Architecture and Design". gulftoday.ae. Retrieved 2024-01-03.