Dutch maestro Marcel Wanders is a brilliant designer but a chance meeting with him reveals that, despite his humility, it’s his unique outlook that has helped him become one of the most prolific product and interior design studios in the world today. When I meet Marcel Wanders on his visit to Beirut, I…
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Design
The young team of DGT is pushing architectural boundaries between theory and practice with their projects. From their award-winning proposal for the Estonian National Museum, they have moved on to design cultural and commercial spaces in Denmark, Poland, Japan and Lebanon. Contemporary architecture has reached a time when many in…
Much about Ahmed Mater’s world seems to reconcile opposing states of being. Somehow, the artist finds space for religion and science, anatomy and spirituality, technology and tradition, violence and morality, swarming multitudes and empty plots of land. Speak with Ahmed Mater and almost immediately, you’ll get the sense that he…
Japanese architect Tadao Ando makes masterpieces in concrete. Here, Official Bespoke takes a look at his recently completed Pringiers House in Sri Lanka. I remember the first time I saw a piece of Tadao Ando. I was visiting a friend in one of the lower-rise, village-like neighbourhoods of central Tokyo.…
At 82, Frank Gehry has designed his first skyscraper and it has transformed Manhattan’s skyline. Official Bespoke tracked down the spirited architect to discover his side of this twisting, rippling tower. “I’m getting tearful,” says Frank Gehry when we ask him how he feels about finally making his mark on…
Bokja Design is an Arab Furniture Brand Fusing Tradition, Modernity, Culture, History and Innovation
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Maria Hibri and Hoda Baroudi, the founders of Bokja Design, an edgy firm producing truly unique furniture. These vibrant and garrulous Lebanese women have literally taken the interior design world by storm. Their brand is the realisation of a juxtaposition of aesthetics: Baroudi…
When she was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 2004, Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid was not only the first Arab to win but also the first woman. Her work is both genius and thought provoking with multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry supposed to evoke the chaos of modern…
Normandy is famous for the D-Day landings, the Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel and horse breeding. Issam Michael Fares’ breathtaking property ties all three together in just one place. Nicolas Shammas takes a closer look. What do the Battle of Normandy, horse breeding and the Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel have in common? The…
A walk in a beautiful garden, breakfast on a sunny terrace with just the right view, relaxing and recharging are just a few assets your outdoors can offer. And as landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic writes, designing your landscape with close attention to the environment and in harmony with your home…
Local artisanal work may bring to mind images of your typical uninspired creations. But in the midst of Beirut’s pulsating city, Carole Corm discovers a strong tradition of fashionable and costly cross-stitches that are all heart. Just tucked off Sidani Street in Beirut’s bustling and noisy Hamra district, Inaash still…