On the corner of Beirut’s Sodeco crossing stands one of the city’s most emblematic buildings, one that epitomizes both the city’s history and the ravages of the Lebanese Civil War. The Barakat building is one of the last standing war-torn structures around the center of Beirut, a symbol of the city’s progress and architectural heritage. The building’s construction began in 1924 under the watchful eye of Youssef Aftimos, one of Lebanon’s most famous architects, who also designed Beirut’s municipal building. The first two stories of the four-story building were built out of stone because concrete had yet to be widely used in construction. By 1932, concrete was all the rage, and two more floors were built, making the building one of the first, and last, remaining structures in the city built in this fashion. Barakat is actually two buildings conjoined together, with much of the space between them consisting of
