We Design Beirut returns for its second edition from 22–26 October 2025, staging a five-day programme of exhibitions, installations, excursions, and talks across some of Lebanon’s most significant historical and architectural landmarks. Anchored in the pillars of empowerment, preservation and sustainability, the fair gathers designers, artisans, students and educators in a collective exploration legacy, revival and continuity through design.
Set against the backdrop of 50 years since the civil war that fractured Lebanon’s cultural fabric, the fair positions design as a form of renewal. By reanimating monuments, heritage buildings and forgotten spaces, We Design Beirut honours what was lost or neglected while ensuring these sites remain vital for future generations. For that reason, the chosen locations are not incidental but are carefully selected as they bear the weight of memory while offering a stage for new creative voices.
This year’s edition unfolds across 5 key sites with 8 major exhibitions. Totems of the Present & the Absent occupies Villa Audi, while Of Water & Stone takes shape at the Roman Baths. Burj El Murr, a scarred high-rise from the civil war, hosts Design “in” Conflict. At Immeuble de l’Union, a modernist landmark undergoing renovation by Karim Nader, hosts Union – A Journey of Light that explores the building’s significance within Beirut’s urban fabric, while Rising with Purpose showcases works by emerging Lebanese designers under 30. The Abroyan Factory, once a hub of textile production, gathers three shows: Métiers d’Art, Threads of Life, and Skin of a City, each addressing heritage, materiality, and the traces of labour embedded in Beirut’s urban fabric.
Beyond the exhibition spaces, the programme extends into the city through curated excursions. A bus tour led by Modern Architecture from Lebanon (MAfL) guides visitors through overlooked modernist neighbourhoods shaped during the country’s so-called “Golden Era,” while a trip to Tripoli, in collaboration with the Niemeyer Heritage Foundation, brings attention to the Rachid Karami International Fair – Oscar Niemeyer’s largest project outside Brazil – with a panel on its cultural and architectural legacy. These journeys open up design not only as exhibition but as lived urban experience.
Concurrent with the fair, leading galleries and showrooms join in with dedicated showcases: Naggiar presents Fablab, Iwan Maktabi unveils Groundwork – the debut of Sediment by Shaha Raphael – and Feuillage by design duo David/Nicolas, Fabrica Design Platform showcases Clay Unbound, and Nalbandian Carpets introduces new contemporary collections. Education also forms a core strand, with ALBA hosting the We Design Beirut Educational Hub through a series of talks, workshops, and roundtables on heritage, preservation, craftsmanship, and the future of design. These parallel events root the We Design Beirut within the city’s design ecosystem, connecting histories of craft with present-day practice.
Open to the public and international guests alike, the five-day programme maps Beirut through its spaces, its designers, and its communities, tracing the capacity of design to carry memory, reimagine resilience, and contribute to the city’s cultural revival.
Location: Beirut, Lebanon.
Date: 22 – 26 October, 2025.
Details about the programme can be found here.