Work comes home in the Beirut apartment of Cities founder Hazem Aljesr

We speak to the Cities founder Hazem Aljesr about his bold, artwork-embellished apartment in a hip district of Beirut.

Hazem Aljesr’s Beirut home embraces his love of colour, personalised with multiple pieces from international artists. Courtesy Hazem Aljesr
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For Hazem Aljesr, home is more than a collection of carefully curated objects – it's a projection of who he is and what he does.

“To me, home is the place where I can feel comfortable,” says the founder of Cities boutique. “It’s my safe haven; where everything is just how I like it, and my surroundings are an extension of me. I take comfort and confidence from my home, because it’s the best parts of me on display.”

Of Lebanese origin, Aljesr grew up between Beirut and Saudi Arabia, and today splits his time between Beirut, Riyadh (where he opened the first Cities boutique in 2006) and Dubai (where he launched a Cities boutique in The Galleria Mall last year).

When he’s in Beirut – as he is right now, showcasing the Cities brand at the Beirut Art Fair – home is a two-bedroom apartment in the trendy Gemmayzeh area. Aljesr purchased the 240-square-metre property five years ago, when the high-rise building that it’s in was new.

“I love the location,” he says. “It’s right in the centre of Gemmayzeh, and when I moved here, the area was just gaining in popularity. Now, it’s filled with interesting shops, restaurants and nightlife, but people still live here as well. It’s a charming contrast between old and new. It’s also within walking distance of downtown and close to Saifi ­Village, so there is a lot to do and see in the area.”

It figures, then, that what Aljesr loves most about his home is the view. “When I look outside, I can enjoy the trees and the traditional architecture of the area, the Ottoman-style buildings mixed with more modern structures, and I love that combination – it’s what Beirut is all about, that assimilation of times, influences and cultures.”

But there’s plenty to see on the inside, too. Aljesr worked with the Lebanese interior design firm AskDeco to personalise his home, and made a number of structural changes to maximise space. The apartment is essentially an incubator of all the ideas that are to be found permeating the Cities boutiques. There’s the same boldness, the same willingness to experiment, to embrace colour and to tear up the design rule book, should such a thing even exist.

The interior is an eclectic combination of the classic, contemporary and abstract, with iconic pieces such as Knoll’s Saarinen dining table and Tulip chairs nudging up against pieces by contemporary Arab designers such as Nada Debs, whose striking Alibaba bar takes pride of place in one corner of the living room.

The pixelated design of the bar sets the tone for a space where prints and patterns are bold and unapologetic, particularly in the case of the Karmakoma sofa and poufs from Moroso, where layers of damask embroidery, oriental patterning, floral motifs and digital grids converge in a piece that’s kaleidoscopic – and almost psychedelic – in its effect.

“I have a large living room space, so I’ve created several seating areas, and the dining area is there as well. I didn’t favour any one style; I’ve got quite a few pieces from Moroso, all from different collections and in various styles.”

Thrown into the mix are oversized artworks created by established artists and by Aljesr himself. “I’ve got several paintings from Lebanese and international artists in the same space with my own personal charcoal drawings that I did in university. Describing it, it sounds a bit chaotic, but I’ve chosen each piece carefully, and it all actually works together very well. There’s a definite flow to the space. It’s harmonic and visually interesting at the same time.”

It is also a vibrant showcase of Aljesr’s love of colour. “Colour is so easy to use and so easy to change, and it makes such an impression. I think colour plays a large part in my interior. ­Because the outside view combines nature and urban aspects, I tried to create a flow and a sense of serenity punctuated by bursts of colour. There was also an influence from the bright colours of Mexico. And a lot of the colour used is functional as well – for example, the wooden doors that we found. They are traditional Lebanese doors that still adorn the houses here, but we took them and painted them in several bright shades and placed them on a railing so they can be used as partitions to divide off part of the house.”

While the interior is filled with personal pieces gathered by ­Aljesr over the years, it emerges that he’s most fond of the artwork. “I’ve got a beautiful painting by [the Greek-American artist] Fotis Gerakis of the Santorini landscape; it’s that famous view of all the dwellings arranged on the side of the cliff with the sea in the background, and he caught the way the light falls in the afternoon, so it’s very serene with these different shades of white and pinks and blues. In contrast, I also have a piece by the Saudi artist Bassem Al Sharqi. His work is very pop art and filled with colours and familiar imagery, and it’s very happy and visually interesting as well.”

Another favourite feature is the lighting, which includes a floor lamp from the French brand Le Labo made from perforated stainless steel discs, which cast dramatic patterns of light when the lamp is on. On the ceiling are a series of spotlights mounted on wooden beams, which can be specifically directed to highlight certain works of art or design features within the space.

“I think that many interiors suffer because people are afraid to take chances,” Aljesr concludes. “For example, they want to use colour, but they limit themselves to using it in small ways because they are scared to be bold and daring. It’s your house – if you can’t be bold and take chances in your own personal space, where can you? If you try it and you hate it, you can always change it.”

sdenman@thenational.ae

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