After the destruction of the historic souk of Beirut (Lebanon) during the Lebanese Civil War (1973-1990), the commercial area of the city began to be rebuilt in 1991. As part of the project, Spanish architect Rafael Moneo designed a commercial district respecting the ancient Hellenistic urban grid and maintaining the original street names. Thus South Souks was born in 2009, a project that responds to that capacity that the Pritzker Jury recognized in Moneo.

By their extension, the souks act as a key piece to link different neighborhoods of the city, replenishing the wounds still open from the war. The souks are not so much a building as an enclosure with a life of its own within the city.