Join us for a presentation and book signing by the Lebanese-French architect Lina Ghotmeh, who will discuss her artistic rendition of Zumtobel Group’s annual report. This book offers an exploration of light as both a physical phenomenon and a social connector. Presented as field notes, the research delves into the symbolism, myths, and innovations surrounding light, illustrating its essential role in shaping our biological, astronomical, and architectural environments.
The book is divided into three parts featuring photographic essays, including documentation by Laurian Ghinițoiu, which illustrate Beirut's electricity crisis and the Stone Garden housing project designed by Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. The final chapter presents a series of ink drawings by Ghotmeh, offering her personal reflections on the relationship between light, water, and the natural world.
With her work and mindset, Ghotmeh significantly impacts the international architectural discourse. The Beirut-born architect runs her eponymous studio in Paris, where she produces work spanning the realm of art, architecture, and design. Her innovative and poetic work reveals a transversal and multidisciplinary approach to architecture. Ghotmeh's buildings are interpreted as a reflection of her experience in Beirut, a city characterized by unrest.
Limited copies of the book will be available for Lina Ghotmeh to sign.
Speaker:
Lina Ghotmeh, Principal, Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture
About Lina Ghotmeh
Lina Ghotmeh leads her practice Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture in Paris. Echoing her lived experience in Beirut—a palimpsest of unrest—her designs are orchestrated as an “Archeology of the Future,” where every project emerges materially sensitive and in symbiosis with nature. Her work includes the Stone Garden tower in Beirut, Dezeen Award "Project of the Year" (2021), exhibited at the 17th Biennale in Venice, at MAXXI in Rome, and at the Cooper Hewitt in New York; the Estonian National Museum, which was nominated for the Mies Van der Rohe Award; Ateliers Hermès, the first energy-positive, low-carbon manufacturing building in France; the 22nd Serpentine Pavilion in London; and the future AlUla Contemporary Art Museum. Ghotmeh held the Kenzo Tange 2024 teaching position at Harvard, she was Louis I Khan 2021 visiting professor at Yale School of Architecture in United States and Gehry Chair holder 2021–22 at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is appointed professor member of the International Academy of Architecture (IAA). She has been awarded the Schelling Architecture Prize (2020) and the Great Arab Minds Award (2023) among other prizes and nominations.
About the Zumtobel Group’s Reports
The constant exchange and close collaboration with architects, artists and designers has always been an integral part of the Zumtobel Group's corporate culture. In 1991 Russian architect and designer Mikhail Anikst designed the first annual report for the company. Initiated by Jürg Zumtobel, the then CEO and later Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Zumtobel Group AG until mid-2020, this rich tradition is now continued by Isabel Zumtobel. The core philosophy behind these unique annual publications has always been to demonstrate the company's close connection to art and culture at group level, and to create a design language beyond the corporate design guidelines of the individual brands. In line with this thinking, a wide range of personalities from the company's extensive network has been invited over the years to shape the annual report with their individual ideas, showcasing their own unique approach to the topic of lighting and the business of the Zumtobel Group.
Center for Architecture
