George Geara: Redefining Contemporary Lebanese Furniture Design
people • designers
Based in Beirut, Lebanese furniture and product designer George Geara is emerging as a distinctive voice in the world of contemporary design. Known for his refined aesthetic and commitment to local craftsmanship, Geara bridges tradition and innovation through a uniquely modern lens. With advanced degrees in Architecture and Industrial Design, earned in both Beirut and Madrid, his creative process is rooted in a multidimensional understanding of form, function, and material.
Since returning to Lebanon, Geara has focused on elevating the Lebanese design industry from within—collaborating closely with local artisans, manufacturers, and workshops. His studio champions a process-driven approach that merges advanced engineering and modern materials with classical design principles and handcrafted techniques, resulting in furniture pieces that feel both timeless and globally relevant.
In this exclusive conversation, Geara shares his perspective on quality, experimentation, and what it means to represent modern Lebanese design on the international stage.
Words: designeers
juLY 2025
WEBSITE: georgegeara.com
INSTAGRAM: @georgegeara.studio
DESIGNEERS
Let’s start from the beginning. Who is George Geara and how did design find its way into your life?
George Geara
I’m a Lebanese designer with roots in architecture, music, and industrial design. I studied both architecture and music in Beirut, then moved to Spain to pursue a master’s degree in industrial design. For me, music is movable architecture, and architecture is petrified music—both are deeply structured yet emotionally resonant. Design found me at the intersection of those disciplines: a space where rhythm, form, and function converge.
DESIGNEERS
You move between tradition and contemporary expression. How would you define your design philosophy in one sentence?
George Geara
Form must follow function—but always with a sense of creativity, poetry, and natural rhythm that speaks to both history and innovation.
DESIGNEERS
Your pieces carry a tactile, almost emotional quality. What role does the hand, yours or the artisan’s, play in shaping your vision?
George Geara
The hand brings the soul. Whether it’s mine or the artisan’s, it breathes life into the design. I’m drawn to the tension between handcrafted, sculptural gestures and clean, modern lines—that contrast is where the emotion lives. It’s what makes a piece feel both human and timeless.
DESIGNEERS
Materiality is clearly central in your work. How do you approach the choice of materials like wood, brass or glass — instinctively or methodically?
George Geara
It always starts with instinct — a reaction to the emotion or character I want the piece to carry. But once that idea takes shape, I move methodically. Every material has its own voice, its own threshold. I respect those limits while shaping them, allowing each one to speak in its own way.
DESIGNEERS
You’ve built strong collaborations with local artisans. What does this human and creative exchange bring to your process?
George Geara
It’s essential. Lebanese artisans hold deep, generational knowledge. Collaborating with them creates a dialogue — between the precision of machines and the warmth of the human hand. That contrast is where my work breathes. It’s what gives each piece its spirit.
“Beirut is a contradiction — a constant performance filled with chaos, beauty, resistance, nightlife, and poetry. It feeds my soul. It makes me both brave and nostalgic. That duality lives in me, and I carry its energy into every line I draw.”
George Geara
DESIGNEERS
Your creations often feel like sculptural compositions. Where does form begin for you, in function, memory, or pure intuition?
George Geara
It begins with observation. I watch how people move, sit, lean, connect. Especially in Lebanon, where cultures, religions, and perspectives intersect in such layered and expressive ways — that richness of human behaviour informs both form and function. It’s where the design process truly starts for me.
DESIGNEERS
Beirut is more than a backdrop in your story. How does the city shape your rhythm, your palette, and your soul as a designer?
George Geara
Beirut is a contradiction — a constant performance filled with chaos, beauty, resistance, nightlife, and poetry. It feeds my soul. It makes me both brave and nostalgic. That duality lives in me, and I carry its energy into every line I draw.
DESIGNEERS
If we had to choose one piece that whispers the essence of George Geara, which would it be?
George Geara
The Amalgam Chair. It embodies contrast and harmony — sculptural yet functional, handcrafted yet clean-lined. It’s a distilled reflection of how I see the world: balanced in its opposites, quietly expressive.
DESIGNEERS
Who’s your design hero, the one whose work or mindset changed the way you look at things?
George Geara
Gio Ponti, for his versatility, poetry, and elegance. And Christian Liaigre, for his timeless refinement. Both showed me that minimalism can be deeply emotional — that restraint, when rooted in meaning, can be profoundly expressive.
DESIGNEERS
When you're not designing, where does your mind escape to—a place, a ritual, a state of being?
George Geara
To music, always. Playing the piano or listening to classical compositions resets my mind. In my world, music and design feed each other — both are structures of emotion, built with rhythm, balance, and intention.
