Le triomphe de l’uniformité

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the post-Ottoman Armenian reconstruction ideology and its impact on religious architecture in Lebanon from the 1930s until the 1960s. Drawing on the example of five places of worship, three churches built for the newly constructed Armenian refugee quarters in Beirut and two cathedrals built to represent the Armenian religious communities at national level, it seeks to reveal the ideologies that were at work to develop new typologies for church architecture in exile. It proves that the creators of these typologies purposefully turned their back on the architectural styles and know-hows related to the churches of the lost Ottoman hometowns and embraced the medieval religious architecture of historical Armenia as ultimate reference and main source of inspiration. This architecture was institutionalized and became the norm in the whole diaspora and, later, in Armenia.

Keywords

• cultural heritage
• diaspora
• Armenian religious architecture
• identity reconstruction
• post-ottoman
• Lebanon