Jean-Marc Bonfils was at the origin of several buildings renamed in the lebanese capital.
It is one of 137 identified victims of the double explosion that occurred Tuesday in Beirut. “The French architect Jean-Marc Bonfils died in the terrible disaster of Beirut. I pay tribute to his most important work, such as the restoration of buildings of heritage destroyed by the war in Lebanon. France and Lebanon are united in the grief of his death,” said Culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot, on Twitter on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
An architect recognized
Born in Beirut in 1963, Jean-Marc Bonfils was a graduate of the school of architecture of Paris-Villemin and the école du Louvre in history of art After having worked for ten years in Paris, he won an international architectural competition organized by Solidere and returned to Lebanon in 1995, traces the site lebanese Cultural Agenda, which he had dedicated a portrait.
“architecture is an art in the sense that the architect becomes aware of its environment and to translate it into a work reflecting a sense and giving a new image to this space,” he explained then to describe its activity. In Lebanon, he participated in projects of restoration of buildings destroyed by the war.
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Jean-Marc Bonfils is at the origin of several buildings deemed to be in Beirut, as the”East Village Building, a residence multirécompensée to look futuristic, which is located in the neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, not far from the port. On the site of its architect Jean-Marc Bonfils and Associates -it is possible to discover several of its achievements.
The architect was also a lecturer at the Académie libanaise des beaux-arts (Alba), and a member of the national Foundation for heritage. He has also been a consultant to a former lebanese minister of culture reminds us of the Cultural Agenda.
Death in his apartment
The lebanese newspaper L’orient Le jour reports that Jean-Marc Bonfils was in the process of filming the fire live on Facebook from his apartment in Mar Mikhael, “when he was swept away by the second explosion.” “The building was heavily damaged and the concierge, the father of a family of syrian nationality, has also been killed,” says the daily.
“I tried to reach my wife on several occasions, but his line was cut off (…) I decided to go with a friend, to bring me closer to the place where was his apartment,” said his friend Ghassan Hajjar on LCI. On the spot, the man describes having been able to convince rescuers to search again the building suffered serious damage to his friend.
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“There, they see a cat out of a place in the kitchen and dig a little more, remove some furniture and found it lying on the ground. There was still a bit of life,” says Ghassan Hajjar. “They have recovered and taken to the hospital but he was already in a really bad point, and it was lost yesterday evening…”
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Double explosion in Beirut
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According to the latest provisional toll from the ministry of Health of lebanon, at least 137 people have died and 5000 were injured in the wake of the explosions that have devastated Beirut. Among those injured, there were at least 24 French, three of them seriously.
