Karina Sukar is a Lebanese interior architect and designer who juggles both talents with equal enthusiasm.
She often brings together both skills, harmoniously combining creative and functional aspects. 
She is known for her wide range of designer furniture and home accessories and her bespoke custom interiors.
Karina was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 6, 1972, in a family of four sisters, well cemented by parents keen on instilling both human values and faith while still imparting that ambition to always do more and be more.
Originating from Bcharreh, the north Lebanese village known for its Cedars of God Forest, Karina carries her villageʼs proud DNA in her way of life, at both the personal and professional levels. She is the fulfilled mother of two, Yasmeena and Shana, who are closely forging their own similar path in life. Karina is an active sportswoman with a passion for cycling and running. 
Karina decided to pursue her teenage creative impulse by enrolling at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (“ALBA,” class of 1997). 
She held a prior degree in Interior Design from MGM (Nice, France), where her family had spent some time away from the civil war in Lebanon. 
She started her professional career even before graduating, taking small projects while still attending classes at ALBA, acquiring useful upstream experience before launching her interior architecture studio as soon as she graduated. 
Her portfolio soon reached out to Miami and New York, going through the KSA and Paris, on top of her local clientele. Yet all her interior design work could not distract her from a deeper inner whim: not just designing spaces but also creating the objects to fill them, for one holistic approach to interior design. 
She thus started her furniture and home accessories studio, designing and selling custom builds for discerning clients, besides her interior projects. In spite of the ongoing difficulties in the political and security environment in Lebanon, she forged ahead and launched her gallery in 2012… Despite unending security and political upheavals in Lebanon and neighboring Syria, she managed to expand and offer an ever-increasing range of products. 
Like so many Lebanese who live in the Beirut Harbor area, Karinaʼs life was turned upside down by the mega-explosion (dubbed as “nuclear-sized” by the press) which destroyed a third of the capital on that infamous day of August 4, 2020, killing, maiming and rendering homeless an entire urban population. 
Her house and her gallery were totally wiped out, and while her daughter narrowly escaped a harrowing death, her closest friend (jewelry designer Hala Tayah) did not. Personal devastation mixed with anger and cemented with unwavering faith were her leitmotiv to rebuild, and not give up to wanton terror. The gallery is operational again, and will host a memorial event to that horrendous day on its one-year mark. 
Karina Sukar Interior Architect and Designer Karina manages her team of passionate and experienced designers and architects who perform their critical individual tasks with talent and dedication, the atmosphere in her studio providing the right mix of creative ambiance and skilled productivity. 
As well, a network of dedicated and highly skilled craftsmen, often bridging skills across generations, is entrusted with the production of her creations. 
She takes particular pride in producing her creations in Lebanon, encouraging local manufacturers and contributing to their effort in reaching out and adapting to new industry constraints, such as new trends, environmental concerns and manufacturing processes.
PHILOSOPHY On creative aspects: “Art Works” is the drive line here, as Karina strives to combine aesthetic purity with functional design, without compromising either. On Interior architecture design: “Our living environment acts upon us, we need to choose how.” 
is her design premise for interior spaces, whereby the reflection of the living environment upon our mood and well-being is foremost consideration. As such one should not only look forward to being in their living space, but also into being part of it.

PANDA SOFA L-Shape


Bold L-Shape




On product creation, her motto “I believe in the sense-appeal of objects. They must speak to our senses.” 
is the common denominator to object creation, again in line with her Art Work starting premise, combining form and function in equal measure. Inspiration can come from anywhere. 
Geometrical shapes become a cabinet, rain drops on a pond are a cluster of tables, construction rebars become a wine bar, Venetian blinds morph into a lounging chair and Mondrianʼs composition becomes a mirror…
Idyllic


 XO-Chair


On the designerʼs role, Karina is on a continuous knowledge acquisition quest, learning about all aspects of her profession and trying to impart as much of that knowledge to her own team and her circle of artisans. Whether itʼs new trends, environmental concerns, new technology, processes, or products, acquiring and sharing information is key to improving the industry to everyoneʼs benefit. 
On her professional inspirational sources, whether theyʼre schools of thoughts, movements or people who shaped the field, Karina draws her creativity from the Bauhaus style, and the likes of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Tadao Ando, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and artists such as Mondrian and Miró. In terms of creative inspiration, Philippe