The geometry set

Lebanese designer Nada Debs has collaborated on a new Ramadan collection for Ikea that incorporates her contemporary arabesque style...

- PENNY McCORMICK

Born in Lebanon, raised in Japan, educated in the United States (at the Rhode Island School of Design) and a former resident of London, Nada Debs can be perfectly described using the two adjectives ‘cosmopolitan’ and ‘multicultural’. It was in London where she began producing her custom furniture, before she moved back to Beirut at the age of 40. She brought with her an admiration of Japanese materials and Tadao Ando, and of traditional marquetry, and a love of colour and craftsmanship, especially Royère.

She has created design icons including the Pebble tables, hot pink plexiglass arabesque mirrors, floating stools and the Strand armchair, found in the most stylish homes across the Middle East. Recent collections include ‘Now and Zen’, inspired by the vibrant colours found in the Japanese anime culture, which has expanded on the brand’s use of materials. Central to her design language, however, is a love of geometrical patterns. As she explains: “We see geometry as a universal language that reaches out to everyone. We used the hexagon shape as a starting point for the design of the objects, and super-imposed our geometric patterns in different scales and finishes.”