U.VA. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE HOSTS LECTURE
ON THE REBUILDING OF BEIRUT

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 8 -- "Beirut Reborn:  The
Restoration and Development of the Central District" will be the topic
of urban planner and designer Angus Gavin's lecture at the University
of Virginia on April 14.  The 5:30 p.m. lecture in Campbell Hall, Room
160, is free and open to the public.
	Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war left Beirut substantially
destroyed. In this city that once boasted of being the most important
cultural, financial and communications hub of the Near East, few
buildings had not been damaged.  Today this multicultural city is on
the road to restoration and renewal. 
	Angus Gavin has been responsible since 1993 for the
development of the Beirut Central District's Master Plan.  A 1.8
million square-meter area is coming back to life through a design
approach guided by the concept of "city memory," which responds to the
history and context of the site itself coupled with Lebanese
private-sector enterprise. 
	An urban planner and designer, Gavin has worked in Turkey,
Greece, West Africa and the United Kingdom, as well as the Middle East
where he has been involved in the planning and implementation of
several urbanization and community projects.  These include
reclamation schemes and historic district action-plans in Saudi
Arabia, Amman and Jordan. 
	Gavin holds degrees in architectural and urban design from
Cambridge and Harvard Universities and has taught at U.Va.'s School of
Architecture and the Bartlett School, University College, London.  He
is the author of "Beirut Reborn: The Restoration and Development of
the Central District," published by Academy Editions, London.
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April 7, 1997
	For more information, contact Lynn Ward at (804) 924-7575.
Television reporters should call our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.