While HORECA is known for being a hospitality and foodservice trade show, design has found a niche at the exhibition.
HORECA artwork
Celebrating its 25th edition, the four-day event has brought together over 350 exhibitions, with arts and culture stands drawing a curious crowd.
Bleu Design Consultants’ stand is presenting a number of Lebanese up-and-coming designers, with contemporary and modern pieces you won’t find in a typical store.
“We’re an interior architecture company specializing in hospitality and F&B spaces, but this year we decided to create a conceptual hotel room with all the products contributed by Lebanese designers, from the tables to the pillows – even the carpet is Elie Saab,” says Mira Mukaddam for Bleu Design Consultants. “We wanted to showcase that Lebanese aesthetics are just as good as international ones and that we can go beyond.”
Interior designer Roy Jibrin’s chair is one example of the way that Lebanese designers are blending together unorthodox materials.
“It’s a chair in which the materials are used in a different way. The reed which is used by artisans is mixed with plexi glass for the first time and the copper back is to reflect the space and hold the chair up,” Jibrin explains. “The elements are mixed together without any glue or screws – just the design itself.”
Dana Alaaeddine and Hamzah al Housseiny’s product comes from the design startup Fluirt, which launched in September. “This is a coffee table which is 90cm and has two concentric circles without any legs attached – the outer circle creates legs,” Alaaeddine says. “The idea is to focus on the pivot and the axis, as if the concentric circle on the outside pivots around the axis in the middle. It’s a marble top with steel and a brass pivot.”
She has also designed some quirky coasters, perfect for any coffee table. “The coasters are made of concrete and copper – mixing two materials which are hard and soft,” she added, “with different designs on them.”
HORECA, the annual business meeting place for the hospitality and foodservice sectors, is celebrating its 25th edition at Seaside Arena Beirut until 23 March 2018, from 3 to 10 pm daily. The event is free for hospitality and foodservice trade visitors and open to public at a fee. For more information, visit horecashow.com.
Text: Maghie Ghali
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