Mena Design Research Center

The MENA Design Research Center is a non-profit organization based in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded by in 2010, it became one the region's few institutions that focus on Design as a multidisciplinary tool for development and research. In 2012, the center initiated and organized the first Beirut Design Week, which set a new standard for Beirut as the Design Capital of the Middle East & North Africa. The creative process involved in problem finding & solving -whether in communications, products, systems or services- could be applied to a varied scale of disciplines and fields. The MENA Design Research Center promotes this diverse understanding of design through the implementation of design research and collaborative multidisciplinary projects in the region. Unlike market research which is consumed with statistics and quantitative data, design research is concentrated more on qualitative information. Borrowing from social and cultural studies, and interpreting through a designer’s lens is what makes this form of data collection and retrieval unique when compared to other research fields. The MENA Design Research Center is highly involved with social initiatives that concern the Arab World and contributes to a variety of social issues by developing innovative tools through design thinking and co-creation. The center is also closely linked to design education in order to encourage and guide the participation of designers in the non-commercial, public, and non-profit domains.