Jury-GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN / Published on April 19, 2021
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Christiane Tawil
Editor-in-Chief
Déco Magazine – Groupe Magazine
Beirut, Lebanon
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE – PEOPLE OF DESIGN VERSION!
What prescient youthful memory relates to your present career?
When I was very young, I developed an attraction for decoration very early on. Think and rethink a thousand times the redevelopment of the family living room and move the furniture at night because at night, it is always inspiring!
What are three basic rules you learned from your mentors?
Rigour
Assiduity
Determination
What project launched your career?
My career began at the turn of the millennium with the launch of Déco Magazine, which accompanied the reconstruction process of Beirut followed by a period rich in projects and achievements.
We had the chance to take part in this great adventure!
Couverture Déco Magazine
Any music playing while you work?
No. It distracts me!
Do you work in PJs or three-piece suits?
PJs? No! Even in tele-work, you have to respect a decent, cool but respectful dress code. Dress is essential, it promotes activity. It helps boost morale and energy.
What is your current design state of mind?
My primary concern is to stay the course and exercise the same intellectual curiosity to stay abreast of the latest design discoveries.
What living designer/architect do you most admire?
I admire the quality of traditional Lebanese heritage works. The builders of this vernacular architecture had no other baggage than their skill and yet they demonstrated an unrivalled sense of proportion and harmony.
Philippe Starck for his sense of derision, William Sawaya for his sense of humor, Patricia Urquiola for her fantasy.
 Photo Credit: Jikatu, CC BY-SA 2.0 |
 Wosh by Zucchetti – 2007 |
 Patricia Urquiola |
| Discover | Discover | Discover |
What past designer/architect inspires you the most?
I am particularly fascinated by modern architects, pioneers of our contemporary era I am thinking of the architects of BauHaus, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier.
They were multi-talented, jack-of-all-trades in design and architecture.
What is your most marked design quality?
A trained eye to spot beauty, quality objects and works.
How would you like your designs to go down in history?
May our magazines become reference go-tos.
What peer quality do you most value?
Humility and eminence. Eminence in humility.
Which project is the epitome of your work?
Each issue of Déco Magazine sums up the work of an entire team. A program thought out, designed and produced and written down on paper.
Illustration par Laetitia Keyrouz, crédit photo : @laetitiakeyrouz
How are your country of belonging’s values reflected in your work?
Always convey the beautiful, the aesthetic qualities, to exercise the taste of our readers.
What always inspires you?
The order! And above all harmony in nature.
If a spell were to transform you into an object, by all means, what would you like to be, and why?
A hammock for maximum relaxation!
What is your favorite place in the world?
Paris, time and time again!
What design or architecture project do you wish you would have thought of yourself?
The butter-cutter wire!
If you could host any three guests, past or alive, over for dinner, who would you choose and what would you dare serving?
NapolEon Bonaparte, Le Corbusier and Marilyn Monroe.
I’d have them taste our house specialty… vine leaves!
Joop van Bilsen / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
What is your mantra?
Go! Go! Go!
What is your dream?… THINK BIG!
My biggest dream: That Beirut rise from its ashes, that the city can be rebuilt identically with the rehabilitation of traditional neighbourhoods completely devastated by the blast…
Illustration par Carla Sayyad, Crédit photo : @Carla Sayyad -urban sketcher
