Chalet Hindié

Designed in the early 1970’s by Lebanese architect Maurice Hindié, this mountain chalet was constructed as a home-refuge for the architect and his family during ski season. Being the first prefabricated house built in Lebanon, the chalet stood out in three aspects: First, for the choice of its material; second, for the imagination of its form; and third, for its exemplary integration into its site. Proyectado a principios de la década de 1970 por el arquitecto libanés Maurice Hindié, este chalé de montaña fue construido como un hogar-refugio para el arquitecto y su familia durante la temporada de esquí. Siendo la primera casa prefabricada construida en Líbano, el chalet destacaba en tres aspectos: por sus materiales forma; y tercero, y su integración en el solar. Located in Faraya, a village in the Mount of Lebanon widely known for skiing, Hindié’s original intention was to construct this cabin in a group of six following the slope of the mountain. The six hexagonal units, pre-cast in factory and assembled on site, would therefore follow the descending slope of the terrain with an overlap of one-third; hence, allowing for a maximum liberation of the land and creating a cascading composition as if the units were sliding one above the other in an image of movement through which the landscape has been formed over time. Ubicada en Faraya, un pueblo en el Monte del Líbano ampliamente conocido por su estación de esquí, la intención original de Hindié era construir esta cabaña junto a otras seis, siguiendo la pendiente del solar, solapándose un tercio cada una con la siguiente y por tanto liberar el máximo terreno y crear una composición en cascada, como si las unidades se deslizaran unas sobre las otras en una imagen de movimiento que se ha ido formando a lo largo del tiempo. Unfortunately, this plan was never completed. Interrupted by the Civil war, only one chalet module was built.