Richard Yasmine’s furniture celebrates the city of Beirut

Two collections of furniture designs by Lebanese designer Richard Yasmine combine diverse references and a graphic aesthetic language, plus a tribute to the city of Beirut on the anniversary of the 2020 explosion

The After Ago collection of furniture and objects by Lebanede designer Richard Yasmine, featuring a black and white graphic motif and celebrating the multilayered nature of the city of Beirut

Lebanese designer Richard Yasmine’s latest furniture designs and objects distill diverse inspirations and references into a graphic language. While the Flowing Fragments collection of marble furniture includes variation on the theme of the table referencing Classical architecture, the After Ago series uses similar geometries in a different format, namely ‘emotional fantasy objects’ made of foam, lightweight concrete plaster, acrylic and clay.

Flowing Fragments

A collection of 16 limited edition tables, the Flowing Fragments pieces are compositions of different alternate slabs of sedimentary and basaltic stones inspired by Greco-Roman architecture. Using stone offcuts, the collection demonstrates how production waste and offcuts can be repurposed sustainably into striking design pieces.

Each piece features a series of visual contrasts, whether in the shadow play offered by their compositions, or in the alternating colour tones of the stone. With this collection Yasmine, wants to emphasize the importance of our global cultural heritage: ‘it’s an awareness to save remaining forgotten fragments of previous civilizations in addition to help protect abandoned sites while highlighting on the antiquities trafficking besides the destruction of authentic and deserted landmarks particularly nowadays when heritage is threatened by urban development.’

After Ago

Similar in aesthetic but different in inspiration, the After Ago is a sculptural collection of objects and furniture references Postmodernism, Memphis design, and the lines of Art Deco. The collection is based on Yasmine’s recurring interest in creating multiple object compositions using simple lines and was created through sketching, rotating and flipping arches, and geometrical procedures such as inserting, intersecting, extruding, and detracting to ‘embrace the splendor of the curves.’ The simple lines become a seat, a shelving unit, a table, a tray, a vase and more.

‘The objects induce an emotional alteration of the self,’ says Yasmin of the visual contrasts: sad and happy, mad and sane, anxious and calm, death and love. The series forms the designer’s personal tribute to the city of Beirut on the anniversary of the 2020 blast. ‘With its multiple lives and layers throughout centuries, Beirut always rises from the ashes longing for eternal life.’