Design Gallery Le Lab Celebrates Middle Eastern Innovation in Cairo

Curated, collectible and contemporary, Le Lab is a design gallery founded by Egyptian art and design collector Rasheed Kamel at the Walk of Cairo. Revisiting the way design gets interpreted, Le Lab aims to question the boundaries between art and architecture, and provide emerging and established designers from across the Middle East a space where all schools of design are celebrated.

“The mission is to encourage the development of the Egyptian design scene and participate in transforming Cairo into a regional and international hub for art and design,” Kamel tells SceneHome. Le Lab will promote designers through their gallery in a year-round program featuring special initiatives, art fairs and exhibitions. “My true calling was to be a collector, it’s my way of preserving and acknowledging the region’s rich artistic heritage.”

The gallery has recently opened its gates with a solo inaugural exhibition by renowned Lebanese designer Georges Mohasseb, co-founder of Beirut-based Studio Manda. Titled ‘Intermission’, the exhibition highlights the various aspects of Mohasseb’s creative process with a particular focus on a multifaceted expression of the form and function of natural materials.

“It is a great opportunity to present these works at Le Lab,” Mohasseb says. “Not only does it allow me to exhibit my designs in a new environment, but I hope that these pieces may in any way contribute to enhancing the contemporary design conversation between Egypt and the Middle East.”

Emphasizing its design orientation, Le Lab had its venue and branding designed by award-winning studio The Design Firm Plus, with its founder Hala Saleh creating a veritable dictionary of sensory symbolism, drawing at the visual remedies of paintings, the rejuvenating scents of aromatherapy oils, the revitalizing effect of detoxifying food and beverages, and the distinct touch of furniture and designed objects, as well as the therapeutic effect of music, turning the gallery into an immersive sensory experience.