Designing the Middle East: Beirut

Designing the Middle East: Beirut, Karen Chekerdijan’s first UK show, explores the designer’s formative journey, from the beginnings of setting up her practice in 2001 until today.

The resulting style, which gallery 19 Greek Street is calling ‘Industrial Handicrafts’ has led to designs, which might just as well fit into a traditional Levantine home as a modern minimalist interior.

Cookie Paper looks like an upside down cupcake wrapper and has been folded from a single sheet of metal without any welding to form a side table.

Rather than a soft cushioned seat The Pouf is instead an indestructible beaten metal affair with a rattan effect top made from a hand-perforated mesh.

 An homage to nomadic dining sets, The Derbakeh, named after a traditional drum from the region is a stool and side table set.

We’d quite like to poach one of the Elephant Armchairs though, which is probably named so for its elegant tusk-like arms, rather then being made of elephant, which it isn’t, we hasten to add. 

Designing the Middle East: Beirut runs from 31 May-19 July at 19 Greek Street, W1D 4DT