Architecture, power and religion in Lebanon : : Rafiq Hariri and the politics of sacred space in Beirut / / Ward Vloeberghs.

• Superior document: Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia, Volume 114
• VerfasserIn: Vloeberghs, Ward 1979-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2016.; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Social, economic, and political studies of the Middle East and Asia ; Volume 114.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (477 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9004307052
• ISSN: 1385-3376
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Ward Vloeberghs.

In Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon , Ward Vloeberghs explores Rafiq Hariri’s patronage and his posthumous legacy to demonstrate how religious architecture becomes a site for power struggles in contemporary Beirut. By tracing the 150 year-long history of the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque – Lebanon’s principal Sunni mosque – and the subsequent development of the site as a commemoration venue, this account offers a unique illustration of how architecture, religion and power become discursively and visually entangled. Set in a multi-confessional society marked by social inequalities and political fragmentation, this interdisciplinary study analyses how architectural practice and urban reconfigurations reveal a nascent personality cult, communal mourning, and the consolidation of political territory in relation to constantly shifting circumstances.