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What the Hands Know
Carla Baz is a Beirut-born, Dubai-based designer whose work brings light, craft, and material into meaningful conversation. Her practice moves between lighting collections, crafted editions, and considered commissions, each shaped by a strong sensitivity to place, memory, and touch.
Her process begins in the workshop, in close dialogue with artisans whose skill, rhythm, and intuition guide the evolution of each piece. Working alongside metalworkers, glassmakers, carpenters, and mother-of-pearl artisans in Lebanon, Carla develops her work through an ongoing exchange between drawing, testing, and handmaking. Brass, glass, stone, wood, and shell recur throughout her practice, chosen for the warmth, depth, and emotional presence they carry over time.
How the Work Takes Shape
Carla’s lighting reflects her approach to form and atmosphere. Grounded, minimal structures hold light with softness and intention, allowing it to shape space rather than dominate it. Her crafted editions explore landscape, nostalgia, and material memory, whether through the weight of carved wood, the tactile surface of sand-cast brass, or the luminous quality of inlaid shell.
Her commissions span hospitality, cultural spaces, and private residences, with each project shaped by its architectural context and by the people who will live with the work. Across scales, her practice seeks balance between precision and warmth, technical rigor and restraint. The result is a body of work defined by intimacy, objects that feel lived, grounded, and expressive.
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EACH PIECE BEGINS AS A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION BETWEEN DRAWING AND SKILLED HANDS, TAKING SHAPE THROUGH TOUCH, INTUITION, AND THE SHARED RHYTHM OF MAKING.
The Story So Far
Carla’s work has been presented in international exhibitions, including Arab Design Now in Doha in 2024 and Beirut Eras of Design at mudac Lausanne in 2023. She is the recipient of the AD Middle East Product Design Award in 2022, the Maison and Objet Rising Talent Award in 2018, and the Fondation Boghossian Design Prize in 2013.
Alongside her studio practice, Carla collaborates with long-standing workshops, cultural initiatives, and hospitality projects across the region. Working between Dubai and Beirut, her studio continues to grow around a clear philosophy: to craft objects that feel lived, honest, and enduring, shaped by patient making, shared knowledge, and the hands that bring noble materials into form.
AD Middle East
AD100's Product Designers of Note
We are honoured to be part of AD Middle East's 2024 AD100 – the ultimate list of today’s top talents in interior decoration, architecture, and product design.
Our Clients
Al Mare Restaurant
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
Raffles Boston
The Emory
Our Collaborators
Shows
FEB 2024 – ‘ARAB DESIGN NOW’ COLLECTIVE SHOW, DESIGN DOHA BIENNIAL, M7 QATAR, DOHA, QATAR
APR 2023 – ‘BEIRUT. THE ERAS OF DESIGN’ COLLECTIVE SHOW, MUDAC, LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
MAR 2023 – COLLECTIBLE FAIR, BESPOKE SECTION, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
OCT 2022 – ‘ART OF LIVING’ COLLECTIVE SHOW, JUBAIL ISLAND, ABU DHABI, UAE
OCT 2018 – ‘BEYROUTH – SUJET/OBJETS’, GALERIE BENSIMON, PARIS, FRANCE
SEP 2018 – BEIRUT DESIGN FAIR, WITH JOY MARDINI DESIGN GALLERY, BEIRUT, LEBANON
SEP 2018 – MAISON & OBJET, RISING TALENT AWARD WINNER, PARIS, FRANCE
JUL 2018 – ‘STRATAGEMS’ SOLO EXHIBITION, JOY MARDINI DESIGN GALLERY, BEIRUT, LEBANON
DEC 2017 – ‘THIS SIDE UP’ COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION, JOY MARDINI DESIGN GALLERY, BEIRUT, LEBANON
SEP 2017 – BEIRUT DESIGN FAIR, WITH JOY MARDINI DESIGN GALLERY, BEIRUT, LEBANON
Publications
‘AD100’s Product Designers of Note’, Admiddleeast
‘House of Today reinvents the humble candle’, Wallpaper
‘3 Breakout Designers Using Marble in Exciting New Ways’, Galerie Magazine
‘Lebanese designers tap into local crafts’, Financial Times
‘Design week, Paris pays homage to Lebanese Design’, Middle East Matters – France 24
‘A Paris le Design Libanais est dans le vent’, Le Monde
‘Carla Baz, jeune designer franco-libanaise’, Les Carnets de la creation – France Culture
‘Libano chiama design. Da Maison & Objet a Parigi’, Artribune
‘The best of Beirut design week 2018’, Elle Decor Italia
‘Best of Beirut design week 2018’, Yatzer
‘Carla Baz debuts resin and marble furniture in Beirut’, Dezeen
‘Maison&Objet reveals winners of 2018 Rising Talent Awards’, Dezeen
‘Box fresh: unconventional packaging ideas from 13 global designers’, Wallpaper
‘House of Today, le design libanais en lumière’, AD Magazine France
‘Jungle Protocol: House of Today’s Design Biennial returns to Beirut’, Yatzer