A postcard from We Design Beirut: 'We’re learning how to break barriers and create dialogue'

Ready to once again bring the Lebanese capital to life, the second edition of We Design Beirut returned with a five-day event from 22-26 October 2025, celebrating design, architecture, heritage and creativity.

Significantly expanded since its first edition in 2024, this second edition has doubled in size and features an exciting roster of eight curated exhibitions, installations, open studios, panel talks and workshops.

Staged across Beirut at some of the city’s most historically significant and architecturally unique monuments and buildings – from the ancient Roman Baths to the derelict brutalist tower of Burj El Murr – the program delves into themes of legacy, revival and continuity, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the onset of the Lebanese Civil War, alongside the many hardships since.

'We’re learning how to break barriers and create dialogue across all corners of the creative community; from makers to artisans, designers, architects, singers, and beyond,' founder Mariana Wehbe tells Wallpaper*. 'Projects like this don’t have to fit into one category; they grow organically and become a part of the city, as they are a way of giving back to it. A true culmination of all the different parts of Beirut.'

The event has a bit of everything, from showcases of heritage crafts and site-specific creations by award-winning Lebanese designers, to exhibitions dedicated to showcasing the work of university students and emerging designers. We Design Beirut attempts to offer a complete experience of the country’s creative ecosystem, celebrating the many facets that make Lebanon the vibrant melting pot it’s known to be.

Best of We Design Beirut 2025

‘Design ‘In’ Conflict’ at Burj El Murr

For the first time ever, the public will be allowed into the derelict shell of Burj El Murr, an unfinished skyscraper intended as a symbol of progress in the 1970s, which would have been the tallest skyscraper in the Middle East at the time, had it been completed. When the Civil War broke out in 1975 the project was abandoned and the tower became a deadly sniper nest until 1990. Burj El Murr has since stood as a looming relic in heart of the city and a symbol of Lebanon’s unresolved past.

Now, an exhibition curated and organized by Archifeed founders Teymour Khoury and Yasmina Mahmoud, in collaboration with Tarek Mahmoud and Youssef Bassil, will bring new life to the building. ‘Design ‘In’ Conflict’ will act as a showcase for Lebanese student talent from nine Lebanese universities, exploring how conflict shapes space and form, especially in a country where conflict and rupture are commonplace, forcing people to coexist with and adapt around it.

‘Totems of the Present and the Absent’ at Villa Audi

Curated by award-winning designer Gregory Gatserelia, this exhibition of over 50 leading Lebanese designers takes over Villa Audi, a restored 20^th-century Ottoman villa, now housing a stunning collection of Roman mosaics. The show is partly a tribute to the former SMO Gallery - founded by Gatserelia in Beirut in 2011 - which acted as a launchpad for emerging designers, until it closed down. The main focus of the show, however, is a thematic exploration where each designer was tasked with creating a ‘totem’ for the city, as they interpret it.

Khaled Mouzanar’s ‘18:07 — When Gravity Was No More’ is one of the first things you see when entering the villa, drawing the eye upwards to a chaos of suspended music sheets, books, a piano, furniture and door frames. The installation replicates the famous Lebanese composer’s room when the 2020 port blast ripped through the city, in a haunting work that seems to suspend time.

Standout totems include Tara Jane Tabet’s ‘Evocative Reminder,’ an illuminated architectural structure made from upcycled cement bricks, clay and natural wax. The piece is an ode to the many architectural remnants left by war, destruction and time that stand vigil in the cityscape. The wax and clay – warm, natural elements – are used to patch up the structure in an attempt at healing.

Lebanese artist Dia Mrad’s ‘Shift’ takes the form of a sculptural object that functions as a power supply indicator within a Lebanese home. Through a sequence of light signals, it displays which electricity source is currently in use—government grid, private generator, solar power, or none. It acts as a commentary on what is usually hidden or improvised, but essential to Beirut’s context.

‘The Promise’ by Lebanese designer Ramy Boutros - a basalt pyramid with benches on the edges that invite visitors to pause, with a three-meter suspended steel ring floating above like a portal – is another showstopper.

‘Métiers d’Art’ and ‘Threads of Life’ at the Abroyan Factory

The Abroyan Factory, a former industrial textile factory from the 1940s that now serves as a nightlife and exhibition space, will host two shows this year dedicated to preserving and updating heritage crafts.

‘Threads of Life’ is all about textile traditions reimagined through contemporary interventions by eight creatives, looking beyond the fragility of fabric and highlighting the enduring resilience of the craft. Must-see installations here include ‘Hanging by a Thread’ by Lebanon’s Sarah’s Bag, a stunning display of handcrafted bridal trousseaus – a vanishing art of beautiful lace, linens, tablecloths and clothing, created over months for a new bride by her female family members. The installation collects yards and yards of heritage pieces from around the country and gives them new life.

‘Supperclub’ by Lebanese fashion designer Hassan Idriss takes embroidery to another level. A quirky take on ‘The Last Supper,’ he has created an interactive installation that invites touch and exploration, with a table laid out with an embroidered feast - ice cubes, fried fish and fresh artichokes all rendered in fabric and thread. Under the table, depictions of the seven sins can be found. The work was crafted by 12 artisans, taking 2,305 hours to complete.

In another hall, ‘Métiers d’Art’ presents collaborations between traditional artisans and contemporary designers, experimenting with ways to push technique, material and form, with live craft demonstrations. Mariagroup and Rattan Hun have joined forces to craft a modular installation of woven rattan seating, which forms a makeshift theatre. A bamboo and rattan 23-meter screen allows the space to screen documentaries during the event. It’s a conservation piece that showcases the versatility of rattan, beyond traditional baskets and stools.

‘Of Water and Stone’ at the Roman Baths

Taking over Beirut’s Roman Baths archaeological site, built back in the 1^st century AD, this show is all about marble. Curated by Nour Osseiran and produced by marble manufacturers Stones by Rania Malli, this exhibition tasked 21 designers with creating stone installations inspired by the site’s themes of healing, rituals, water and Beirut’s layered history.

Favourites include New York-based Palestinian designer Ahmad Abouzanat’s ‘Infinite Bonds,’ a work comprised of hand-sized stone blocks echoing Lebanese soap, softened over time by water. The sculptural installation – anchored by three marble ‘soap towers’ that reference resilience, memory, and time - reflects on community, ritual, and enduring human connection, as each unique block is meant to be taken and dispersed across homes and cities, remaining linked by substance and origin. An online portal allows recipients to register their soap block and see where on the map others have travelled to.

Samir Hakim’s ‘Boon’ table is a playful exploration of Roman cleaning traditions, as they didn’t use soap, but oils and exfoliating tools. Hakim imagines the bubble that would appear if they had used soap, crafting several onyx spheres that cluster like foam, bisected in places to create flat tops.

Other standout installations includee Lebanese designer Jeffrey Meawad’s ‘Stillae,’ a sculptural marble bench conceived as a meditative object—an invitation to pause, reflect, and release - inspired by purification rituals. The lounger-style seat is stripped of excess, following the natural contour of the body, offering a moment of tranquillity like that would have been part of the original bathing experience.

‘Union – A Journey of Light’ at Immeuble de l’Union

Curated by architect Karim Nader and Atelier 33, this showcase spotlights this modernist landmark from the 1950s, which has stood as witness to the city's changing social and economic tides. Soon to be renovated by Karim Nader, this event allows the public to see the ruined building as it is, before its transformation. The exhibitions unfolds as a series of light art installations around the building, with an illuminated ‘story’ on each floor created by a designer or artist, guiding visitors through the building.

Notable installations include Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr’s ‘Petro Beads,’ an oversized rosary made from a string of orange-glowing gas canisters, perforated with delicate patterns and lit from within, and Italy’s Christian Pellizzari’s ‘Cyclamen’ – a large glass light sculpture of Lebanon’s national flower that bridges traditional glass craft with contemporary forms.

Japanese creative collective Spread presented ‘Much Peace, Love and Joy,’ a spatial installation exploring the emotional resonance of colour through a net installation, with hand-torn paper shapes float freely in space, contrasting against the dark, ruined concrete walls. The vibrant piece added a spark of life to abandoned space.