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Aspen 2020
Elevate 2018
Design Miami 2017
Jungle Protocol 2016
Naked 2014
Confessions 2012
Anastasia Nysten
Born in Ottawa, Canada to a Lebanese Mother and a Finnish father, Anastasia Nysten grew up in Finland, France and Lebanon. She received her Masters degree in Industrial Design from ALBA (Academie Libanese des Beaux-Arts) in Beirut during which time she was working at Karen Chekerdjian design studio. After Graduation she moved to London to be part of Lighting designer Michael Anastassiades’ team where she stayed over three years. As of 2015, Anastasia has been editor of Selections magazine in Dubai, UAE where she now lives and works.
Carla Baz
Carla Baz is a French-Lebanese designer with an aspiration for creativity and a surge to explore new techniques and challenges. After studying interior architecture at ESAG Penninghen in Paris, she pursued a Masters in product design for the luxury industry at the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) where she had the opportunity to work on several projects under the supervision of international designers such as Ronan Bouroullec, BarberOsgerby, Marti Guixé, Pierre Charpin and Umberto and Fernando Campana. She then engaged in diverse professional experiences, working in London for Burberry, Vivienne Westwood and Zaha Hadid until she felt it was time to explore her own lines.
Winner of the Brussel based Boghossian Foundation’s 2013 Design Prize, she is inspired by the unique heritage of Lebanese craftsmanship, and dedicated to foster synergies between her innovative approach to furniture/lighting and the very accomplished skills of Lebanese artisans, she began a very inspiring sequence of experiments which resulted in small editions of her sculptural yet functional furniture.
Carla Baz pieces are rooted in that elaborate relationship where innovative ideas meet noble materials that are worked by hand. Within that journey to their process, unique and elegant pieces are born that hold their place in our landscape.
Celine & Tatiana Stephan
Céline earned her Bachelor degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 2008. Her final year project was granted the Dean’s award for Creative Achievement. She took part in various internships in Beirut, Paris and New York City between 2005 and 2007. Following her studies, she worked at DW5 / Bernard Khoury Architects for five years (2008-2013) where she followed the different phases of projects ranging from architecture and interior missions to furniture installations. She has since been working independently on various architecture and design projects she has dubbed ”Mécanismes”.
Her sister Tatiana, joined “Architecture et Mécanismes” in September 2014 after earning her Master’s degree in Architecture from the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), where she graduated with distinction.
They both freelance on architectural projects and design custom made furniture, lighting and installations for private clients, galleries and exhibitions. Their works were exhibited at the Beirut Art Fair (2014 & 2015 editions), House of Today (2nd design Expo), Design Days Dubai, smo Gallery, Beirut Design Week, Turkey Design Week etc.
david/nicolas
David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem are Beirut-based designers. Their unique way of blending retro, contemporary and futuristic elements gives their work a timeless aesthetic that translates to a wide range of projects, from furniture design, to high-end bespoke interiors.
The duo studied together at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts and the Scuola Politecnica Di Design in Milan, going on to found their own studio, david/nicolas, in Beirut in 2011.
Since then, david/nicolas has staged several exhibitions and collaborated with established international brands. In 2014, The New York Times selected david/nicolas as one of the three breakout stars of Milan Design Week, where they launched the bespoke “Artichoke” safe with Agresti for Wallpaper* Handmade, as well as their collection “Dualita” for Nina Yashar’s Nilufar Gallery. Later that year, their first industrial project, the “Orquestra” tableware collection for Vista Alegre, was awarded the Red Dot Design Award and the Wallpaper* Award.
david/nicolas work on multiple types of project, from collaborations with prominent international brands, to the design of their own pieces. They also help to realise the visions of select private clients, whether that means refurbishing a classic car or designing a custom interior for a high-end restaurant.
Flavie Audi
Flavie Audi is a French-born, Lebanese artist working in London.
Born in Paris in 1986, Audi moved to London in 2004, and graduated from the Architectural Association in 2010. She went on to complete her Masters Degree at the Royal College of Arts in 2014, where she specialised in ceramics and glass.
Audi combines digital technology and both traditional and new glass-making techniques, working with highly skilled craftsmen to carry out her distinctive designs. During the making process, Audi embraces accidents and new discoveries, which then become an integral part of her work. Audi melts glass and precious metals together to create colour through the resulting chemical reactions. The shapes are not formed by blowing air into the glass, but rather by vacuuming the air out, thereby reversing the traditional, age-old technique of glass-blowing that can be traced back to the Phoenicians in 1st century BC and the Roman Empire. Adding metal oxides to create unusual coloured glass, as Audi often does, is an even more ancient custom; during the late Bronze age in Egypt– around 1500 BC – there was rapid growth in glass making technology. Craftsman would wind thin threads of glass with admixtures of oxides which could then be drawn into the glass using metal raking tools.
Flavie has quickly become known for her ethereal, hand-blown glass creations. Her works have been widely exhibited in the UK and US, most recently in 2016 at David Gill Gallery, London, and alongside Ai Weiwei’s sculptures at
Venus Over Manhattan
, New York, in 2014.
Georges Mohasseb
Georges has been working as an architect and designer for eighteen years. Through his professional experience and intensive workshops he mastered wood furniture making techniques prominent in each of his designs. His passion for design has brought him to teach in many renowned academic institutions in Europe and in the U.S. He recently set up his company “Wood&” in Paris- France working on projects for Europe and the Middle-East.
The presence of wood is always prominent in many of Georges’ designs due to its connectivity its liveliness and texture; Georges Mohasseb, through his experimentation of materials and textures tries to look for the best possible combinations. His constant search for materiality and immateriality characterizes his design approach and gives an identity for every project he develops, be it, architectural, custom, furniture and lighting design projects. Georges’ main concerns is to create a limited number of timeless designs maintaining a high level of craftsmanship and a complex expression of materials through their colors, shape, texture and smell.
Khaled El Mays
Khaled el mays was born in Lebanon, earned a degree in architecture from the American university of Beirut and an MFA in digital arts from Pratt institute in new york.
His work tackles multiplicity and repetition, it is always process based mutations, and the outcome is always an instance of purity and balance extracted from pools of visual data.
In 2013, khaled launched his debut collection, RHIZOMES, which was published by major design publications in the MENA, since then his work has been exhibited in influential cities around the world.
He is the founder of Atelier Khaled El Mays, which is a Mutli-‐disciplinary design studio that focuses on Furniture Design, Interior Architecture and Graphics in Space.
The studio splits effort between two worlds of manufacturing, One, is community conscious, khaled’s designs get produced with an array of local craftsman in the bekaa valley, the process is very organic and the pieces moves between local artisans ;owners of their workshops; in order to get the job done. This allows these businesses to grow or maintain their structures, also learn new tricks within the process.
The second one is luxury conscious process, where the designs are manufactured with the best suppliers available in the market; the pieces go through a formal production process using the noblest materials.
Khaled is also a lecturer and design instructor in the Lebanese university as of 2014.
Lina Shamma
For Lina Shamma pottery is a passion: a hobby that consumes her emotional and artistic pursuits, a creative process that fulfills her Wabi-sabi imperfect aesthetic.
An Architect with a MBA degree in finance and accounting from Columbia University. Lina has run and created several businesses, her latest Madame Reve; a vintage costume Jewelry Brand. Always pursuing her imperfect creative goals.
Marc Dibeh
Marc Dibeh is a Beirut based designer who opened his studio in 2009. He studied Architecture at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Paris Val De Seine before returning to Beirut in 2006 where he received a Masters in Product Design from the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts.
After completing his Master’s degree, he worked for designer Marc Baroud before opening his own space following Baroud’s advice. They later collaborated together on several projects. The philosophy of his studio is mainly based on collaborations, which by definition implies working with other fellow designers or non-designers.
His work revolves around the storytelling: to try and create a story behind each and every product or interior while keeping it timeless and simple. He has been selected along with Marc Baroud as part of the 5 breakout stars of the design Miami, Miami edition in 2013 by the Wall Street Journal after exhibiting the Wires series with Art Factum Gallery, and part of the 5 up and coming designers of the design Miami, Basel edition in 2015 by Artsy.
He exhibited in Milan, Miami, Basel, Dubai, Lausanne, London, Paris and Beirut where he also teaches at Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts.
Massimiliano Locatelli
Massimiliano Locatelli, architect and PhD at the Columbia University in New York, works since 1993 between Milan and New York.
Ever since the beginning of his career has developed design projects in different contexts: private homes, showrooms, stores and exhibitions, along with the architectural design of new buildings. On a smaller scale he also designs furniture, including both fitted furniture for individual projects and solutions for companies. His collaboration with Tecno produces the limited-edition collection of a series of cabinets and tables and for the brand Skitsch he designs accessories for the home. His collaboration with Nina Yashar of Nilufar Gallery has given birth to very sofisticated projects.
He has won a number of competitions, including the tender issued by the Municipality of Milan for the restoration and functional redevelopment project of the monumental complex in Piazza XXV Aprile, Milan. He also took part in the Metamorph exhibition of the 9thEdition of the Venice Biennale, in the section ‘Notizie dall’interno’ (‘News from Inside’), and he was also invited to participate in the exhibition entitled ‘Il paesaggio mobile del nuovo design italiano’ (‘The Moving Landscape of the New Italian Design’) at the Triennale of Milan.
The activity of designing for customers of the fashion sector is organised as a co-ordinated image management activity: from the offices to the showrooms, from the shops to the fashion shows.
These include the Missoni showroom in Milan and the project for enlarging the headquarters, showrooms in Milan and Dusseldorf of the Vestebene Miroglio Group in Alba. For Gibo, a company of the Onward Luxury Group (manufacturers of brands such as John Galliano, Michael Kors and Hussein Chalayan), the practice designed the showrooms in Milan, Paris and New York, as well as the store Via Bus Stop in New York and the store concept of the footwear brand IRIS with stores in Milan, Paris, London, Moscow and New York. For Jil Sander he has designed stores and for Globallink, a luxury brand in Saigon, the practice designed the multibrand store Runway. He also designed the concept for MSGM, Pinko and Marella stores.
He develops store concepts and stores for the brands Philip Plein,Paul and Shark, Energie Group, Billionaire, Alcantara, Lancaster, David Yurman, La Rinascente, Missoni Sport, I Pinco Pallino, Malo, Valentino, Les Copains and Mazzini, creating outlets in Europe, the Far East and the United States.
Projects for new architectural designs include the construction of the newly-completed modern art gallery Lia Rumma in Milan, a residential building in Milan, and the new manufacturing unit of the company Onward Luxury Group, which has been presented at the 13th Venice Biennale at the Italian Pavillon.
Another important activity of the studio is the designing of private homes, which involves very different types of interior architecture – large villas, apartments and historical homes, combining renovation, restoration and new construction, including the recently finished duplex penthouse in Vietnam, town house in New York, hotel particulier in Paris and residential building in Munbai
During the last Salone del Mobile 2016 in Milan Massimiliano Locatelli presented a series of custom made table “Lake Tables” which are now exhibited at Nilufar Gallery and his new homeware project Untitled.
Michel Abboud
Michel Abboud is renowned in the United States and the Middle East for his avant-garde portfolio. in 2010, his vision for the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York City further catapulted Michel into prominence. Such notoriety has led to a subsequent influx of invites as speaker and guest of honor at prestigious universities across the United States and Europe.
Having earned a Masters in Architecture from New York's University of Columbia subsequent to graduating from the American University of Beirut, Michel Abboud has a reputation for provocative projects which deliver both forward thinking and user-friendly functionality. Michel's defiant no compromise stance in terms of design, continuously raises the bar in the design world and has gained him respect among a loyal client bas.
Nada Zeineh
An architect by training, Nada Zeineh has lived and worked in Paris where she specialized in museography.
Back to Lebanon she works on several architectural projects like the Soap Museum in
Saida and the rehabilitation of the Archaeological Museum of the American University
of Beirut (AUB).
In parallel, since 1987, she has designed and created jewelry in various materials such as terracotta gilded with gold leaf or brass wires and sheets woven, twisted, hammered and dipped in gold.
In 2004 she opened her showroom and launched her label Nounzein, dedicating herself exclusively to jewelry and to small objects such as mobiles, stabiles, lighting elements and tables.
In 2012, she presents "Pathways" a retrospective of her work at the Beirut Art Center.
Her work is inspired by the abstract geometric forms inherent to her training as an architect, and by the nature and the old civilizations of the Middle East.
For her, every piece is a project in itself, a project born from a dream, a souvenir, a “collective memory” that she reinterprets in order to create simple, light, playful and timeless pieces.
Najla El Zein
Najla El Zein, graduate of the Ecole Camondo, integrated to Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, is a designer based in Beirut since 2010. Her objects and spatial installations illustrate tactility, sensations, sincerity and complexity. Najla engages in an almost holistic approach to design by embracing long process thinking, vast experimentation and refined production. Each of her creations are locally and carefully handmade with passionate craftsmen and technologists.
Her work is in search of simple and raw beauties, derived from narratives, materials or simply the experiences it seeks to generate. Najla El Zein was exhibited and published internationally in museums, galleries, publications and fairs such as The Victoria and Albert Museum, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Beirut Exhibition Center, Singapore Art Fair and the Boghossian Foundation.
Nour Al Nimer
Born in Beirut to a Palestinian father and Turkish mother, Nour al Nimer brings a unique medley of cultural references to Nimerology, a chinaware label that translates Nour’s personal experiences into elegant tableware. Each exquisitely crafted piece places art at the center of everyday life, melding aesthetic sensibilities with straightforward functionality. Nimerology was founded in 2012 after Nour completed training at the Chelsea School of Art & Design (London) with an MA in Fine Arts. Nimerology was selected by The Independent (UK) as top 10 best plates.
Rabih Geha
Rabih Geha is the principal at Rabih Geha Architects, a Beirut-based multidisciplinary architecture and design studio founded in 2006. Rich with multiple expertise, the studio is fueled by a team of talented architects and designers collaborating to create spaces that inspire. Led by Rabih Geha, the team works on a portfolio of projects that include architecture, interiors, product design and experimental installations. From residential and retail to commercial and recreational spaces, each design, prompted by the environment it lives in, absorbs the surrounding physical, social and aesthetic elements to result in spaces that are never dictated by trend or style, but rather built with meaning, relevance and most importantly passion.
Defying categorization, Rabih Geha’s vision is regularly intersected with the demands of his clients and the modern world. In each project, Geha aims to capture the mood, ambiance and blend the spirit of the space by merging design, architecture and the client’s need – this is the key thread that runs through his work. Geha follows his intuition, for it takes him where he wants to go: a premised shaped by internal critique, creative dialogue and an exemplar level of architectural and design aesthetics.
Geha’s portfolio includes some of Lebanon’s most diverse – and popular – drinking and dining destinations. Following the success of glamorous speakeasy ‘Off & On’, Geha designed the back-to-basics mega-club ‘Uberhaus’, ‘the Roof’ lounge bar and restaurant atop the Four Seasons Hotel Beirut, as well as the ‘Pre’ rooftop lounge and Club in downtown Beirut. Geha has established a nightlife circuit that begins with rooftop cocktails and ends with bottle service at an after-hours speakeasy, singlehandedly transforming Beirut’s nightlife scene.
Geha holds a B.A. in architecture from The American University of Beirut (AUB) and a master’s degree in design in new technologies from l'École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle (ENSCI). Since 2006, he has been teaching an experiment-driven and research-oriented workshop at l'Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA).
Ranya Sarakbi & Niko Koronis
Niko Koronis is an architect with master degrees in both architecture and product design. In addition, he is also a recipient of a PhD in Architecture from the Architectural Association in London.
He has been a Fellow at Central Saint Martin’s in London and a researcher at the Alvar Aalto Foundation in Helsinki. He has taught, lectured, and undertaken research in architecture, product, and urban design in several universities throughout the world. In addition to his academic career, he has exhibited his work in several group and solo shows, amongst which the Venice Biennale and the Triennale di Milano.
Ranya Sarakbi is a self-taught painter and sculptor.
Her work, over the years, has resulted in the build-up of different collections of paintings, objects, wearable ornaments, and sculptures.
Ranya currently lives and works in Milan.
Sayar & Garibeh
Stephanie Sayar and Charbel Gharibeh are Lebanese based designers.
Living between Beirut and Germany, they both had the chance to assist in several workshops and to work and experiment with local and German craftsmen.
Selected to be Part of Starch team 2016.
They work together as a team where each one has his/her own touch and thoughts combined together to create nostalgic and dreamy pieces.
Their approach to design encompasses their personal vision of experimental designs with a dash of humor using new materials and forms.
They recently opened their studio Sayar & Garibeh, in Beirut, after developing their product design skills and exhibiting their work at a number of international fairs such as Milan, Paris, Beirut and Dubai.
Their work had been selected in 2015 and 2016 as best of Milan design week and highlighted as best of Maison et Objet Paris 2015.
Going down the academic Route they both Graduated in 2010 with first and 2nd class honors, with a Master degree in Interior Architecture from the Lebanese University.
Snøhetta
Snøhetta is an internationally operating architecture and design firm consisting of architects, landscape and interior architects, graphic designers, researchers and artists.
Founded in 1989, Snøhetta’s first commission in the same year was a cultural building garnered from an international competition. The reimagining of the great Alexandria Library in Egypt was the office’s seminal work and was followed a decade later by the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, another international competition whose completion also received numerous prestigious international awards.
Since 1989, Snøhetta has established itself as a world famous practice of urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture and brand design. Operating in 7 cities in 6 countries, the practice currently employs over 180 staff members of 30 different nationalities.
Daniel Berlin is born in Copenhagen and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.
Daniel Berlin completed his architectural education at Southern California Institute of Architecture in 2012. Daniel graduated with distinction and was awarded the Merit award for best Thesis in Architecture.
After practicing in Los Angeles with Ball-Nogues he moved to Oslo to join Snøhetta in 2013. His independent work has been published widely and he frequently lectures around the world.
In Snøhetta Daniel has been working on several award-winning competitions as well as having key roles at design development stages in a variety of large-scale cultural, infrastructural and commercial projects.
Currently he is a project manager for the
Banque Libano
-
Française New Headquarter in Beirut
.
Educated in the UK, Robert Greenwood joined Snøhetta in 1993 to play a central role in the detail design and construction of the Alexandra Library in Egypt. Since returning from Egypt in 1995 Robert has been deeply involved in all design projects and competitions at Snøhetta. In 2006 he became a Partner and Design Director responsible for International work.
From 2010 he has been Managing Director for Snøhetta Overseas with overall responsibility for all International projects.
Robert has been active in Architectural Education in Norway, teaching at the schools in Norway, and holding numerous lectures and courses around the world.
Tessa & Tara Sakhi
Lebanese-Polish sisters, architects, creators & wanderers, Tessa & Tara Sakhi, were immersed into a multi-cultural environment and the world of architecture & art through their parents at an early age.
Having garnered experience in various architecture offices and through freelance projects in Beirut, New York and Paris, it is mostly through their constant travel journeys and shared enthusiasm for exploring eclectic environments that Tessa found her passion for philanthropy, social & civic collaborations, while Tara developed hers for photography, scenography and set design.
In 2016, they combined their strong duality of versatile talents & individual affinities to co-found T SAKHI under one harmonious and complementary vision: an architecture & design platform that promotes innovation through multi-disciplinary collaborations.
Tessa & Tara both started their initial architecture studies at L’académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts in Beirut.
Tessa graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree of Architecture at the American University of Beirut, winning first prize of honors & excellence in the Areen Awards for her diploma project.
Tara graduated in 2016 with a Master’s Degree from École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, earning high honors & distinction for her thesis project.
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