The building of resentment: it is one meter wide and was built by a fight between brothers

Beirut’s picturesque architecture is distinguished by the diversity of peoples, cultures and religions that have influenced it. In the capital of Lebanon you can find ancient temples, churches, mosques, castles, palaces and museums, but there is one building in particular that catches the attention of all tourists: it is 14 meters high and 1 meter wide environments, characteristic that makes it the narrowest building in the whole city.

The striking construction is known to locals as “al-Ba`sa“. This Arabic word in English is the name by which it is known to foreigners: “The Grudge“. In Spanish it is roughly translated as “The Grudge», Alluding to the nature of his story.

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The building was built on a 120 square meter plot in 1954. It is located in the exclusive area of ​​Manara, recognized for its proximity to the Mediterranean. In some environments, the width of “The Grudge” reaches 4 meters.

The legend told by the locals speaks of a dispute between brothers and sisters over the inheritance of the land where the construction is. The land was divided into two plots, but one of them was smaller and was, in part, claimed by the city authorities to be used in the planning of road infrastructure.

Faced with the feeling of one of the men of being at a disadvantage in the distribution of the land, the idea of ​​constructing a three-storey building for to cover his brother’s view of the sea it didn’t take long to come true. In this way, the resentful owner managed to affect the value of his brother’s building.

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The architect of Lebanese origin Sandra Rishani, was dedicated in 2014 to investigating the history of The Grudge, following a discussion he had with his father about the building’s existence. His findings were recorded on an architecture blog.

Rishani had little hope of finding the building. The city of Beirut it experienced a real estate boom after the end of the Lebanon war in the 1980s. Modern housing developments led to the demolition of hundreds of historic buildings. In addition, the city government encouraged the creation of taller buildings through a controversial zoning law.

Fortunately the architect was able to detect the building and was able to find the person currently renting it: a mechanic who has his workshop on the ground floor. After a brief conversation, Rishani managed to enter the historic building to see its interior.

Each floor is divided into two departments. The first starts in the wider part with a kitchen, followed by a series of rooms which as the walls get smaller they get smaller. There comes a time when circulation through the rooms becomes difficult and the atmosphere ends with a single cabinet with a width of 50 centimeters.

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On the second floor, the distribution of the bedrooms is similar. The right lighting of the apartments creates the illusion that you are in a bigger place. The height of the ceiling and the large windows allow light to penetrate into the areas of the building, helping to create a feeling of space.

The bedroom windows have view of the mediterranean sea and to the building of the other brother, which during the architect’s visit in 2014 functioned as a German school. During its early years the facade was painted pink, but over the years deterioration of the property has affected its color.

“The building was beautiful, but during the war it turned into something disgusting. A department it was used as a mess and the rest were occupied by an extended family seeking refuge. In those years it was yellowish, never pink. It was recently painted pink by nearby land builders, who want to beautify the surroundings with their millionaire projects, ”said the mechanic who rents Beirut’s narrowest building at a low price.

The Grudge does not have government protection despite being a historic building, but Rishani believes it will not be demolished by new real estate projects. The land on which it is located is so small that it does not comply with the regulations governing the construction of new towers. The Lebanese living in Beirut will be able to continue to enjoy the building born out of the resentment of two brothers and with a wall one meter wide.