Principal, Karim Moussawer.

The Lebanese architecture practice PARALX, founded by Karim Moussawer, was born as a counter idea to the Starchitect model that structures many of today's firms. Believing that architecture is a product of collaboration, the firm whose name is an acronym of Parallel Practice, centers around a collaborative-based design process.

For this week's Small Studio Snapshot, we talked with the firm about their collective approach, the importance of finding the right talent, and the dramatic urbanization of the Middle East, where much of their work is located.

How many people are in your firm?

We are five people in the office—like a core team of 5. We grow a bit when we have interns, typically in the summer, but pretty much we revolve around that number.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

Motivation has many dimensions. But basically, if you’re passionate about what you do, starting your own practice is the ultimate goal that you set early in your career, or maybe even when you’re still in school; then, it’s about finding the right timing to do it. So, it’s more about when than if.

Starting your own practice gives you this privilege of pursuing your own agenda, your own ideas and interests. Those ideas are put into research & exploration and they evolve as you move from one project to another; you kind of start somewhere and then end up somewhere else that is completely different. This speculative approach is fascinating. And being interested in the built form, we didn’t really want a practice that is solely focused on research; this explains why teaching was not on the agenda at that time.

Also, the dramatic urbanization in the Middle East, which generated a sameness in the built environment, lacks sensibility in how to approach social, political, cultural and environmental issues. So this was like the triggering call to get started.

What hurdles have you come across?

Well in any startup business, you go through hurdles related to stability, financial security, marketing, etc.—we still do as a matter of fact, but these are typical across all fields and then add to that an economic climate that’s very vulnerable to political tensions. So, I’d rather talk about specific challenges we faced at PARALX.

Basically, you can’t contradict the very first reason why you decided to have your own practice, which is pursuing your own agenda, but this is a double edge sword; you can’t claim to have an agenda and then go do any type of work. So one real challenge is to find the right clients, and convince them to align with your ideas and interests. Having said that, finding clients—which is very difficult for a small & young practice to begin with, becomes even more challenging. You have to become selective in choosing who you want to work with, which at some point can get really scary and stressful. But, when you see the same client returning for their next project, this is your real rewarding moment.

Another important challenge is finding the right talent. At PARALX, everyone is involved in the design process regardless of their level of experience, so every member of your team is by default, extremely valuable. Even interns matter and can add value. So, finding the right mix of talent and motivation has been quite challenging. We had a good turnover of people before we get where we are right now. Our team has been doing really good work, and luckily this issue is behind us as we go forward.

Can you talk a bit about working in Beirut?

Despite its trend of ongoing instability, Beirut has always been kind of a center when it comes to the design scene in the region. After graduating from SCI-Arc and practicing for some time in Los Angeles, around 2008—at the time of the crisis, it was only natural to relocate to the Middle East—Saudi Arabia specifically, being originally from Beirut, to ride the wave of the fast-paced urbanization. Once there, it was quite hard to find real talents to work with, so moving to Beirut and setting up a base there was a pure strategic decision, but, of course without underestimating the burdens that come with such decision. So, 2010 is really when PARALX was up and running.

Although we’re physically located in Beirut, we’re quite stretched geographically when it comes to work and commissions. We’re a couple of hours flight away from where most of our work is. We’ve also worked on projects in West and Central Africa. And now, the plan is to explore opportunities further West.

Economic difficulties, coupled with deep social divisions & on-going political tensions is something we often strive to steer positively in our work. For us, Beirut is no longer much about its past civil war, but rather about its post-war. The segregation, although not in a physical format, is now wider. We refer to this as virtual enclaves rather than physical barriers.

We don’t claim to be social healers, but architecture can play an important role in these things.

Taking the case of the St. George church for instance, this project was purely political. We had to deal with issues of existence, memory, division and religion. Our approach focused on how to bring a community that was forced to flee this area, back to where it belongs, while also making the subject of religion less proscribed to the young postwar generation. We don’t claim to be social healers, but architecture can play an important role in these things.

Historically, wars and conflicts acted as an inspiration for innovation, and a country like Lebanon, which unfortunately is in a state of decadence, to say the least, can fit that bill in my opinion. A lot of young talents have emerged lately which is great. It’s like a silent cultural revolution.

What are some current projects your firm is working on?

Well first, this is what our design approach is about: basically, we reject the pre-conceived and the “as is” but at the same time we don’t obsess about what the outcome is going to look like.

We always challenge typologies and strip off the conventional, exploring solutions along the way. As I mentioned earlier, we read constraints as challenges and turn those challenges into design opportunities; this design process becomes the catalyst for innovative architectural concepts. Having said that, we want to produce a responsive architecture aiming at engaging people, history, culture, environment and so on. 

We always challenge typologies and strip off the conventional, exploring solutions along the way

In the DL project, we address the issue of the place & question the generic apartment building typology. What we’re interested in is the relationship with its surroundings; for instance, the dark grey metal cladding gives the white concrete ribbons a floating effect, which make the building express some kind of freedom within a rather dull context, as if you’re injecting a new life in the neighborhood. So, in a way, you’re celebrating the place.

The Y Chalet project steps far and away from the “Swiss Chalet” typology, found all around the village of Faraya where it’s located. Its pitched roof is angled and oriented towards unique views, while having the same cladding as the facades; the monolithic form is reminiscent of the rocky formations around the site. 

With our approach, and because we have this flexibility as a small practice, we can work on projects with very different scales. We’re working on a new lighting fixtures showroom of around 500 SQM in Dubai, for a leading lighting design & supply company. 

Simultaneously, we are working on a very exciting project, the Masterplan of the Beirut Digital District. Located on the Green Line that separated Beirut between East & West during the civil war, Beirut Digital District (BDD) is the new hub for the digital and creative industries in Lebanon. The project is envisioned to be a space of convergence rather than one of segregation, connecting the city through piazzas and landscaped areas, incorporating & renovating old structures neighboring the site.

The 1st phase of ground up construction in BDD is two office buildings which we won through an invited competition (BDD 1227). They surround the St. George church and they are being built together. The construction is very interesting; the church is held up above the excavated site underneath, where 6 basement floors serving the project would be built.

And just recently, we received a new commission which involves the reinterpretation of the relationship between architecture & the public space. The city of Jeddah has just renovated its waterfront, creating a park- the 1st in the city, that stretches along its long coast on the Red Sea. There are 5 areas dedicated for small commercial structures and restaurants, and we have just started working on the 1st one. It’s a very interesting project and we will definitely share it with Archinect very soon.

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your office?

It’s nice to grow with the practice, however this is by all means not an obsession that we have

Scaling up means more work, and we’re not going to say no to new opportunities, that’s for sure. It’s nice to grow with the practice, however this is by all means not an obsession that we have. 

At the same time, when you practice in a niche market, there should be a limit of how much you want to grow; you want to make sure you can still be involved and on top of every project as if it’s the only one you’re working on, so I’m not really sure what that magic number is- that’s if there is such a thing. Is it 10 people? 12? I don’t really know.

If you take a look at our portfolio, it’s quite an expansive amount of work in a relatively short amount of time, and a lot of those projects are in Saudi Arabia. Here, I must credit our partner office in Jeddah, Arrand, with whom we have been collaborating for some time now. The fact that we have been sharing resources on Saudi-based projects, had helped us maintain our current size. 

This type of collaborative approach, which is what PARALX really means—parallel practice—has an enormous benefit on the final outcome. Maintaining your specialty is very key.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small?

When I mentioned that one of the main challenges is the fact that you have to be selective in choosing who you want to work with, this is actually an advantage too. When you put all your energy in something that you know aligns with the interests of your client, it’s a win win.

A widely common model of small firms is to be accompanied with teaching. This has great benefits on the practice, because ideas in academia can feed the ones in the real world and vice versa. In our case though, we wanted to make sure that the practice is there, on track and getting things done before getting into teaching, so it’s slightly different than most other practices. But we just began teaching, and I can already reap those benefits.

What’s good about being small is versatility. That’s one of the main advantages. When you’re versatile, flexible & capable of shifting focus, and shuffling your team in response to specific or “urgent” needs, you can fill a gap that bigger, more established firms aren’t able to, due to their structures and hierarchies that are typically more rigid. I think this is something that young, progressive entrepreneurs and developers are starting to value and appreciate in architects, and you can already feel the trend of a shifting market towards boutique, design-oriented firms.