The commission was to rebuild the area of the souks of Beirut which had been destroyed during the 20 years of war. The scheme is a horizontal plateau which cuts the sloping topography of the site.  In this way a part of the location ‘pops up’ out of the plateau as a memory to the historical urban structure that was there before the war. The other part of the location gets ‘covered’ by the plateau, which gives a new interpretation to the former urban structure and new conditions for contemporary uses such as a conference centre, cinemas, parking, etc.