Robert Polidori: Hotel Petra

Robert Polidori: Hotel Petra
- photography
- photography: photobooks
This book is Robert Polidoriâ€™s portrait of the interiors of the now demolished Hotel Petra in Beirut, a grand icon of the cityâ€™s prewar history. The Hotel Petra was once one of the most popular hotels in Beirut, conveniently located in the city center adjacent to the Grand Theatre. After the Lebanese Civil War of 1975â€“90, Rafiq al-Hariri founded a holding company, Solidere, whose goal was the selective demolition and reconstruction of downtown Beirutâ€™s urban fabric. In 1992 the Hotel Petra was set aside for later restoration, and from that moment essentially cut off from any human intervention.
Polidori gained access to this site in 2010, and was transfixed by what he discovered: â€œItâ€™s truly rare to find examples of such undisturbed decomposition,â€ he explains. â€œUsually the normal wear and tear of human traffic would violate and destroy the surfaces of such a delicate ecosystem of layered paint. I came to view these walls as a living process of slow decay whose end effect closely resembled the concerns of many contemporary abstract painters â€¦ only in this case their genesis was not fixed or intentional, but the gradual summation of several painters and workmen modifying the wall surfaces at different points in time ... I was quite taken by their beauty and was moved to photograph them for posterity.â€
Country USA
Brand Steidl
Manufacturer Steidl
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber 26219376
ReleaseDate 2016-11-22
UnitCount 1
EANs 9783958291843

Country	USA
Brand	Steidl
Manufacturer	Steidl
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	26219376
ReleaseDate	2016-11-22
UnitCount	1
EANs	9783958291843

Robert Polidori: Hotel Petra

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