Michel Abboud

Michel Abboud is a Lebanese born architect. He heads the architectural practice SOMA Architects, which he established in 2004 in New York City.

Michel Abboud studied at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Planning. He is renowned worldwide for his avant-garde portfolio, and has a reputation for projects that combine design aesthetics and user-friendly functionality. Among others, Michel Abboud designed the highly controversial Park51 Islamic Cultural Center^[1][2][3] infamously dubbed the Ground Zero Mosque, and unveiled its design in October 2010. His one-of-a-kind design for the center was shelved, however, in favor of 45 Park Place, a 665-foot condominium tower that will sit adjacent to Jean Nouvel-designed museum and public green space.

Career

Michel Abboud is founder of New York-based architecture and design firm SOMA Architects.^[4] His international work, mainly in New York City, Dubai, Qatar, Erbil, and Lebanon, covers projects across several industries, asset classes and uses.

Residential projects include 50 Lispenard Lofts, 93 Crosby and 45 Park Place, all in New York, as well as Dubai's One at Palm Jumeirah and Amchit Bay Beach Residences, a beach-side community under construction a short distance from Beirut.

Hospitality-related projects include the 560 7th Hotel and 322 Lafayette Hotel, both in New York, the Shaza Kempinski Hotel in Doha, Qatar, and the Yacht Club in Baku, Azerbaijan, amongst other large projects. Smaller work includes the award-winning Workshop Kitchen + Bar,^[5] Tartinery,^[6] Yazuzu, and Naya.^[7] Commercial/mixed-use projects include Aura in Erbil^[8] Gemini in Dubai, U.A.E., and the King Road Mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Great examples of residential projects and developments are 50 Lispenard, luxury residential lofts in the TriBeCa neighborhood, and 93 Crosby lofts in the SoHo neighborhood^[9] both located in New York.

Other projects include iconic landmarks such as the Aquadome, a reflective spherical construction hovering on the Caspian Sea at the foot of a 420-meter pier in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, as well as the Helix, a helicoidal windmill, also known as the Baku Tower of Winds. The most controversial of all projects remains Park51: The Islamic cultural center in New York.

Other Selected Projects in Lebanon Include

• Amchit Bay Resort, 2013
• The Carlton Hotel, Beirut, 2008
• W, Beirut, 2010
• Pollux, Beirut, 2011
• The Gate, Beirut, 2011
• Castor, Beirut, 2011
• Nikki Beach Resort, Dammour, 2012
• Batrun Annex I & II, 2005

Awards

• IAIR Award, Reall Estate Awards for Leadership in Architectural Design, 2014, 4th Annual Real Estate Awards in Hong Kong based IAIR
• Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, 2013, Best Restaurant and Bar Design in the Americas category in international 2013 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards.
• International Property

References