The A + Award, the first concrete and successful private initiative meant to give Lebanese students
(Interior Architecture, Design...) an opportunity, was awarded on Friday 21st September.
Beirut Design Fair wishes to particularly thank its Jury and Mentors for enthusiasm, the rigor of their analysis, the warmth and humanity of their advice and, to be honest, their essential contributions to the success of this first A + Award.
The 2018 theme was «Know your roots. Start mining your nostalgic Memories! ». The Jury and the mentors had selected 7 projects from which they chose to reward Maya Abi Safi for her particularly ingenious, beautiful and practical oil spoon (Elias).
This creation will be developed in collaboration with WxHxD and with its support, and it will be exposed in the SpotOn! space of Beirut Design Fair 2019.
A+ AWARD: MAYA SAFI
Maya Safi is a young ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts) graduate, passionate about her field of study along with cooking and all its flavors.
Maya told the jury that the syllabus of the project immediately delighted her when she understood that "roots" must be related to an object of childhood, a connection to the past, an evocation of lost roots, found, forgotten, buried!
" At that moment, I saw the distant yet so close image of my dear grandfather ‘Elias’, in the middle of his planted olive trees in Amioun, an image that overwhelmed me with hope and joy. Hence the wooden spoon I’ve greedily been using!
These memories gave birth to Elias, a wooden spoon, carved into the mass of a block of olive wood! The spoon dipped in the jar with olives, a ritual dear to my roots! "
Elias should have two or three adjustments at most and should also be accompanied by an olive jar, a wooden spoon rest, and a container to serve the olives. Thus, it should be presented as a kit, which you should discover next year at Beirut Design Fair in the SpotOn! section.
Jury
Nadine Touma (founder of Dar Onboz),
Giulio Vinaccia (Italian Industrial designer, advisor for Unido),
Jean-Marc Rif (Managing director of Boisseliers du Rif)
Mentors
Marie-Lyne Samaha (designer, MAD Architecture),
Etienne Bastormagi (designer, Borgi/Bastormagi).
The seven selected students were:
Myriam Najjarian, Maya Abi Safi, Majd Fawaz, Jacques Elias Kosseifi, AbdelNour Akuz, Sasha Mattar, Annabelle Chebat.
The A+ Award is in partnership with WxHxD sal, a bespoke manufacturing company. Their handcrafted furniture is manufactured to bring you the best in industry.
They offer their clients unique pieces satisfying their needs, with a focus on high quality and technique.
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