Swimming pool at Hotel Excelsior

Notes

The pool and adjoining canopy in the garden of Hotel Excelsior in Beirut are representatives of the lavish days of 1950s Beirut, served by daring designs. 
The boomerang-shaped canopy is partly hung by tension cables supported by a concrete mast. The structural system comprises as well steel tubular columns located on both sides of the canopy wings.
As for the pool, it is kidney-shaped and engages in a formal dialogue with the canopy. The last element of the composition is the simple building housing the cabins. 
The hotel is featured in several scenes from Georges Lautner’s 1967 film La Grande Sauterelle, starring Hardy Krueger and Mireille Darc. The film, a tale of love and money set in Beirut, includes a scene where Lebanese restaurant and nightclub owner Pepe Abed sits at the famous pool reading a newspaper.

Sources

George Rais, office brochure

advertisement about the opening of Hotel Excelsior in l'Orient 28 April 1955, 

La Revue du Liban 2 May 1956, n. 35, p. 5.
 

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