Old dreams of a modern Baghdad
Hidden behind blast walls and checkpoints on the eastern side of Baghdad is a giant concrete structure that has withstood three decades of war, sectarian violence and sanctions: Le Corbusier’s Gymnasium. Designed in the early 1950s by the famed French architect as part of Iraq’s aborted bid to stage the 1960 Olympic Games, the building […]Hadeel Al Sayegh reports for The National:
Hidden behind blast walls and checkpoints on the eastern side of Baghdad is a giant concrete structure that has withstood three decades of war, sectarian violence and sanctions: Le Corbusier’s Gymnasium.
Designed in the early 1950s by the famed French architect as part of Iraq’s aborted bid to stage the 1960 Olympic Games, the building still bears its original motto: “Where order is born, well-being is born”, its inspirational words mocking the structure’s current chaos.
