This Artistic Table Represents The Layers Of Beirut’s History

As a contribution to the exhibition Jungle Protocol: Etiquette & Tradition, put on by House of Today, international architectural firm SOMA has created a table called Layered Fabrics.

Designed by SOMA’s founder Michel Abboud and associate Steven Townsend, Layered Fabrics is a table designed to represent historical cities and show their evolution over the course of history.

Specifically designed for this exhibition that’s being hosted in Beirut, Lebanon, this table is meant to represent the city of Beirut and the changes and development it’s experienced over the centuries.

The historical layers of Beirut have been broken down into their core elements of streets, cities, and town squares and then layered on top of each other to create a table that represents all of the changes that the city has experienced throughout history.

Each society and culture that’s inhabited Beirut over the course of time has interacted with and made changes to the previous inhabitant’s design of the city. Those interactions, modifications and developments have all been taken into account in the design of this table and results in a piece that literally builds up the historical layers of the city of Beirut.