Through Beirut Design Week and other initiatives, this young mover and shaker has restored Beirut to its rightful spot as a leader in design and architecture in the Middle East and North Africa.
Beirut is now securely on the international design map. Six years after the first Beirut Design Week (BDW) opened in 2012, Doreen Toutikian, co-founder and president of its board, finally feels confident: “Next year we are changing the whole game, moving to the next phase. It’s finally the kind of design week we have always wanted, totally community-led.” This means open calls for exhibitions, experimental interventions, and public installations themed around citizen rights, movements, and the city.
The Lebanese capital has always been a major design influencer for the region: The inaugural Dubai Design Week in 2015 had an exhibition showcasing Beirut’s design and architectural legacy, and shows from BDW have traveled to design weeks across the Middle East. It has been a challenging process to build a critical discourse around design in a formerly war-torn country that is as complex as it is chaotic, but all good design relies on an iterative process.
“I was only 25 years old when I started, super excited but quite naive. I didn’t get the support from any of the established designers I presented the idea to,” Toutikian says.
But she never gave up, even with all the harsh criticism directed at her. “In 2012 I had a journalist call me and ask me what I thought about the fact that established designers were questioning why I would be doing their design week. They were asking, ‘Who are you? What are your credentials?’”
Denne historien er fra January 2018-utgaven av Metropolis Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra January 2018-utgaven av Metropolis Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
No New Buildings
The energy already embodied in the built environment is a precious unnatural resource. It’s time to start treating it like one.
The Circular Office
Major manufacturers are exploring every avenue to close the loop on workplace furniture.
Signs of Life
Designers, curators, and entrepreneurs are scrambling to make sense of motherhood in a culture that’s often hostile to it.
Interspecies Ethic
In probing the relationship between humans and nature, two major exhibitions question the very foundations of design practice.
Building on Brand
The Bauhaus turned 100 this year, and a crop of museum buildings sprang up for the celebration.
Building for Tomorrow, Today
Radical change in the building industry is desperately needed. And it cannot happen without the building trades.
Strength from Within
Maggie’s Centres, the service-focused cancer support network, eschews clinical design to arm patients in their fight for life.
Next-Level Living
The availability of attractive, hospitality-grade products on the market means everyday consumers can live the high life at home.
Mi Casa, Su Casa
Casa Perfect creates a memorable shopping experience in lavish private homes.
Enter The Culinarium
AvroKO imagines the future of residential amenities—where convenience, comfort, and sustainability meet.