The Dwell 24: Borgi Bastormagi

Designers Nada Borgi and Etienne Bastormagi, who each run their own architecture firm and have an urban planning background, draw inspiration from their hometown of Beirut.

Whether they’re working on public projects like the playground they just designed for a nonprofit effort to replace those destroyed by the explosion at the city’s port in 2020 or producing on a smaller scale, as with the sleek, minimalist furniture line they launched in 2017, the urban condition is at the heart of Borgi Bastormagi’s process.

The Fillet shelf, part of the designers’ new Shaping 90 collection, which also includes mirrors and lighting, was created in homage to the curved corners of Beirut’s apartment buildings. "It’s a piece of architecture that now lives inside your home," says Borgi of the steel-and-walnut unit, whose shrunk-down dimensions have an "Alice in Wonderland effect."

That reference maybe fanciful, but the Fillet has a global aesthetic, designed for the realities of urban living, explains Bastormagi, where even tricky spaces like corners need to be ingeniously maximized.

Read the full Q&A with Nada Borgi and Etienne Bastormagi below.

Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon

Describe what you make in 140 characters. Pieces inspired by architecture, offering new behavioral aspects and aesthetics.

What’s the last thing you designed? A lighting device.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? Observing street life and sketching.

How do you procrastinate? By thinking about multiple design tasks at the same time

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? Three Pod Stool from Ikea (the concept of a basic classic that everyone has access to).

Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Gonzalez Haase are definitely design heroes. In life, my parents, for believing in me and my work.

What skill would you most like to learn? Ceramics. I took pottery classes as a child, but I do feel the need to develop my ceramics skills as I am infatuated by the craft.

What is your most treasured possession? My experiences.

What’s your earliest memory of an encounter with design? An Olivetti typewriter that my mom used to own.

What contemporary design trend do you despise? Being part of any trend, we all get drawn and tempted to be part of a larger thing happening in a moment, but refraining is a hard exercise.

Finish this statement: All design should... be accessible.

What’s in your dream house? Natural light—as the main object in the house.

How can the design world be more inclusive? By allowing discovery of things and people in different places.

What do you wish non-designers understood about the design industry? Experimentation is key, and repetition is boring.

You can learn more about Borgi Bastormagi on their Instagram.

View the 2022 Dwell 24!