To return to Beirut after a 20 year long absence from their homeland, the couple and their three children seek to reminisce the paraphernalia of their respective ancestral families while basking in radical contemporaneity. The apartment in “Insula,” a recent building in titanium and wood designed by Youssef Haidar on Rue du Liban with expansive full-height glazing will be kept on its bare bones, fully finished in concrete from floor to ceiling only enhanced by black technical lighting. To contrast this neutral grey cradle, a series of objects of pedigree and visual character will serve as “glamorous” counterpoints. In the dining room, heritage red leather chairs contrast with a bespoke grey travertine table by Studio Manda under a vintage “Sputnik” chandelier; in the main living, contemporary classics and modern icons, a chrome and gold art deco table and a colorful urban painting by Elie Rizkallah; in the winter garden composing with the city view and the library by Borgi Bastormagi, white fabric, boomerang table and Paul Guiragossian; at the entrance, in a black cube, off-centered mirrors by Karina Sukar; a bespoke cedar forest wallpaper and antique mirror in the guest area, Blatt Chaaya and limestone for the kitchen; miniature silk carpets and travertine in for the open the master bedroom, green overtones and a touch of walnut in the family living.

Composed in point counter-point, the apartment flows from space to space with minimal partitioning while it expresses the merging of her feminine glam and his masculine presence in the harmony of a couple and family life duly inherited from their parents and now expanded into new space.