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Nada Borgi and Etienne Bastormagi share many interests and a matching professional journey. Trained as architects and urban planners, they both worked in large practices before establishing their own individual architecture studios.
BORGI BASTORMAGI was founded in 2016 when Nada and Etienne were invited to participate in Milan’s Fuori Salone with their [me]rror project, an installation designed to reflect fragmented body parts. Both Nada and Etienne live and work in Beirut, drawing inspiration from their surroundings and daily lives.
Fusing tradition with modernity, their designs are influenced by everyone’s attempt to find moments of balance and harmony amidst the chaos of the city. In their free time, they used to spend long hours in cafes drawing in their sketchbooks. Drawing nights eventually became more focused on product design. Etienne’s artistic background and Nada’s interest in designing through narratives drafted the vision of BORGI BASTORMAGI
Their creations hold an urban dimension, while putting the user at the centre of the design – they aim to question the relationship between body and space, suggesting different behavioural patterns and offering playful experiences that defeat gravity and equilibrium. The choice of materials is based on BORGI BASTORMAGI’s inclination for minimalistic forms and techniques. Recent projects include a three piece furniture collection named Hyphens which was showcased during Maison & Objet at the Lebanese Embassy Residence in September 2019 and a range of objects designed for the Sursock Museum Store in Beirut. At IMM Cologne 2020, Nada and Etienne presented Beirutitude: Design & Architecture in Revolutionary Times, a talk exploring design processes in Beirut’s current tumultuous political landscape.