Design DraftsDesign Drafts

Ahmad Gharbieh is Associate Professor and Chair of Graphic Design at the School of Architecture and Design, American University of Beirut. He is co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, an interdisciplinary research space where he leads the Critical Mapping design-research track. His scholarly work in and on critical cartography explores mapping and data visualisation as methods of studying, representing, and analyzing a wide range of urban issues and socio-spatial phenomena: security and militarisation, territorial geographies, place-making, building development, displacement, urban recovery, and political violence, among others.

Dr Samaneh Moafi is the Assistant Director of Research at Forensic Architecture, a multidisciplinary group in Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques to investigate cases of state violence, violations of human rights and environmental destruction. Samaneh is responsible for identifying new areas of research, overseeing research quality and integrity, and directing the innovation of new analytic techniques, methodologies, and processes.

Since 2021, Aric Chen is the General and Artistic Director at the Nieuwe Instituut, the Netherlands’ national institute for architecture, design, and digital culture in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Before arriving at the Nieuwe Instituut, Chen was the founding lead curator for design and architecture for M+, a museum for visual culture in Hong Kong, the first creative director of Beijing Design Week, as well as of Design Miami. 

Maya Moumne (b. 1987) is a graphic designer by trade, currently based between Beirut and Montreal. She is the co-founder and creative director of Studio Safar, a design agency and publisher that services the extended cultural sector and actively engages in social and political discourse. Maya is also the editor-in-chief of two bilingual magazines, Journal Safar and Al Hayya. Journal Safar addresses the lack of critical design writings in the global south, while Al Hayya explores feminist culture, representation, and diversity through literary, visual, and sonic content.

Rana Tawil is a freelance graphic designer and writer based in Beirut. Her research focuses on the evolution of the Arabic language and the cultural understanding of gender and sexuality in Southwest Asia and North Africa throughout history. She is currently the Managing Editor at Journal Safar, a bilingual magazine that explores visual culture in the global south.

Magali Doueihi is the general manager of Studio Safar and the production manager of Journal Safar, Safar's annual bilingual magazine. She is based in Beirut, Lebanon.

Delany Boutkan is a researcher, editor, and curator with the Nieuwe Instituut’s Research team. Since 2019, she has coordinated the annual International Call for Fellows and various collaborative projects. Her current research focuses on language as a design material. Delany's latest initiative, Design Drafts, investigates new languages to write design. Her written work has been published in numerous magazines and journals. She curated the ‘5th Floor Talks’ at Design Academy Eindhoven and holds a Master’s degree in Design Curating & Writing from that same academy.