Set in Stone: Power Mediation through French Colonial Architecture in Lebanon’s Majlis an-Nuwwab

Abstract: This thesis will provide an analysis of the current Parliament building in Beirut, which is called Majlis an-Nuwwab, and was built by the French colonial state that ruled over Lebanon. It will examine to what extent it has theoretically contributed to the mediation of the French colonial power over Lebanon, through the analytical framework provided by Njoh and Bigon, along with a theoretical framework offered by Kim Dovey. The data was obtained first-hand during a ten-day visit to the city of Beirut, employing primary observation and is in the form of personally obtained photographs of the object of analysis, namely Lebanon’s Parliament building. Further, this research has been conducted due to the lack of academic discussion and literature regarding the relationship between colonial power structures and colonial architecture in the Middle East.In accordance to the analytical and theoretical framework, this study demonstrates that Lebanon’s Parliament building, along with its urban context, can theoretically be understood as operating as the mediator for military, cultural and socio-psychological power as the most prominent ones. Additionally, traits of economic and politico-administrative power were also found to be theoretically mediated through the designs of the Parliament building, although not to the same extent as the previously mentioned powers.