OPTIMISM IN DESIGN

Life and design go hand in hand. When you’re building something, you start with the foundation. To have a solid foundation, you have to dig deep into the ground. Similarly, to build a life that is not handed to you, you must be willing to spend time establishing your own foundation. The bigger your vision, the higher you must rise, hence, the deeper you must be willing to dig.

For a long time, I carried a severe misconception about the darkness I went through in my life. I believed that “it is what it is”—that there was no way out. I recently realized that the same darkness is the foundation that I’m gonna be building my dreams upon. As I write these lines, I cannot help but think about what has been happening in the Middle East. What I’ve been through, what my friends and family still are going through. I moved to the United States in 2020 during the pandemic, with no plan other than believing in a better tomorrow. I applied for LGBTQ asylum, I came out, I struggled, I was both broke and broken in a new country, city, society and culture that is not mine. I chose to take a journey that took me through my traumas, because I knew that it was my only way out. I chose to create an authentic life for myself that is filled with development, building, creating, and making - with integrity.

Growing up queer in a closeted Lebanese environment, surrounded by the destruction of war, and the oppression of homophobia, the only way to fight back was for me to dream, create, and design. I survived both psychological and physical trauma caused by war, destruction, homophobia, death, racism, and depression. Living with that knowledge makes me want to prove the opposite. I choose to create, to design, to love, to speak, to dream, and to accomplish. Out of my darkness, I designed my way towards the light. My light. That light we all have that lives inside of us.

That light that I’ve always been pursuing has now become my present reality.

Understanding how feelings manifest into actions and how they shape our realities and narratives is key to individuality and becoming our authentic selves. The most powerful thing in the world is choice. Once we choose to believe in a better tomorrow, our expression immediately reflects that belief.

During that journey, I discovered the art of Suprematism, specifically Malevich’s work. Suprematism is the reduction of all shapes, forms, and colors to emphasize the supremacy of pure feeling and perception. Taking hints from that school helped me develop my own tool of stripping away all acquired knowledge, judgment, language, and values, distancing my self-from them and reducing their influence, so that I could reshape myself and grow authentically with honesty and integrity to my own beliefs.

Design being at the intersection of art and design, all those personal experiences influenced and a powerful impact on my art form. I believe that when our feelings, values, and emotions manifest into shapes, forms, and functions with integrity, only then can we allow the spaces that we live in and the objects that we use become a true reflection and extensions of ourselves. That’s how I design.

Living in fear for me is to start a project and remain in the conceptual phase. That’s why I love design. Design is all about building and making. I value movement and velocity. I believe in change. I believe that nothing remains the same, and it shouldn’t! Change is inevitable, but birth is traumatic. At the end - Actually in the beginning, what really matters is to consistently realize the power of choice. I choose to inspire, love, create, make, and build. I choose to move forward - to design a better future. To destroy the boundaries between refined design and bold self-expression, and reshape the spaces that define us.

Starting AYYA Design Haus was a leap I chose to make. It was the organic next step in a path I'm carving as I walk into every day, with every challenge. The best thing about it: I have the best people walking with me. Sharing the same values with the people that surround you is where growth finds the best home. I am committed to creating a collaborative environment with a multidisciplinary team of professionals & creatives. Collectively, we are committed to creating authentic design experiences for our clients. Designs that become an authentic extension of who they are.≠