In a design landscape often driven by aesthetics, Lebanese architect and bespoke designer May Jbara is shaping a more introspective direction, one where spaces are not simply created, but understood.
As the Founder and Creative Director of May Jbara Design Studio, Jbara has developed an approach that moves beyond visual composition into something more nuanced: a dialogue between space, emotion, and human behavior. Her work is grounded in a belief that design is not an external layer, but an internal reflection of identity, memory, and the way people truly live.
“At the core, I don’t see a project as a space to be designed,” Jbara explains. “I see it as something to be read, understood, and then translated. Every space is equal to a soul. My role is to reveal it, not impose it.”
This philosophy has positioned her as a distinctive voice within the region’s design scene. Her process begins long before plans or materials are discussed through observation, conversation, and an in-depth understanding of her clients’ lifestyles, emotional patterns, and aspirations. What follows is a carefully calibrated design language, where architecture, interiors, and atmosphere are conceived as one continuous narrative.
Her work is often described as minimalist, yet it resists reduction. Instead, it is defined by precision and an exacting attention to proportion, materiality, and the subtle interplay of elements that shape how a space is experienced.
“There is a psychological dimension to every space,” she notes. “How it flows, how it feels, how it responds to you. Design, for me, is about creating that alignment, where the space and the person exist in harmony.”
Since establishing her studio in 2015, Jbara has built a portfolio spanning high-end residential projects across Lebanon and the region, with an expanding international presence that includes work in Saudi Arabia and Côte d’Ivoire. Alongside this, she operates within the highly specialized field of luxury yacht interiors; an area that demands both technical precision and a deep understanding of spatial efficiency, placing her among a rare group of designers in the Middle East working at this level.
Her work has garnered increasing international recognition with the Luxury Lifestyle Award for Best Interior Designer in 2024.
As her practice continues to evolve, May Jbara is not merely expanding geographically, yet she is contributing to a broader shift in how interior design is perceived; one that moves away from surface-level expression, and towards a more thoughtful, human-centered discipline.
In her world, space is never just a composition of elements. It is a presence that, when understood correctly, has the ability to resonate far beyond its physical form.
To learn more about May Jbara and her work, visit www.mayjbara.com.
