A Conversation with Rabih Hage

Rabih Hage is a RIBA chartered architect and interior designer who has a continually evolving creative approach to serve clients. He was included in House & Garden’s 2021 list of the Top 100 Interior Designers & Architects, and has been knighted by the French Republic as a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite for his services to design. As a returning member of our Design & Art Advisory Council for the 14th edition of Salon Art + Design, Rabih joined us for a round of rapid-fire questions on design eras and movements that inspire him, best questions to ask a dealer or gallerist when considering a piece, and more.

Art + Design Favorites 

If you could add one museum piece to your personal collection, what would it be?

I would add to my collection any piece by the African American artist Martin Puryear, particularly his 1996 installation piece, Ladder for Booker T. Washington.

Which design era or movement most inspires you right now?

The 1970s and particularly the discovery movement of the fluid streamline shapes of Verner Panton, Étienne-Henri Martin, Vico Magistretti and Luigi Colani, precursors of the free-form shapes of design and architecture fueled by polypropylene and cast plastics. Slowly, plastics will disappear from our lives, and what would be left are these “prehistoric” objects of the soon-to-be-banned man-made material.

Who is an emerging artist or designer you think everyone should know?

Elaheh Ganji, an amazing artist and designer-maker, a jewellery maker by training. I am so committed to emerging artists and designer-makers that I have set up a fellowship for early 2025, the Bursary for Creative Talents and Social Impact, and Elaheh is the inaugural bursary winner.

What’s a piece in your collection that always sparks conversation?

The Jar Chair by Johnny Swing. An amazing American artist that I discovered in 1999 in New York. He was, for a long time, “hiding downtown” as part of the Factory and a fellow of the Warhol tribe in the late 1970s.

If you could collaborate with any artist or designer, living or dead, who would it be?

Living, of course, Aki Kuroda. An amazing Japanese artist that I collect and did collaborate with on a series of sculptural furniture pieces; the most interesting of them is the Flower Bench.

What’s your favorite space you’ve ever visited for its design or art alone?

There are two buildings that I always visit when I am in the respective towns: the Marcel Breuer Museum, which is now the Sotheby’s Headquarters in New York, and Villa La Roche et Janneret, built in 1923 by Le Corbusier in Paris. I was so much fascinated by this building that I rented my first apartment in Paris when I left college, right opposite. Villa La Roche et Janneret is the precursor to the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier in 1928 and virtually influenced the entire modernist architectural movement of the 20th century.

Advice

What’s a lesson you learned the hard way in collecting or curating?

I am a design collector. The lesson I learned the hard way is: one needs a big warehouse, or a barn-cum-gallery! Having pieces scattered around the house, stacked in the garage, or stuffed in containers is not good. One needs to live with one’s collectible pieces and have them around, visible and accessible.

What’s the best question to ask a dealer or gallerist when considering a piece?

Can I see the flipside of the piece, please? It is amazing how revealing and informative it is when one flips a piece upside down, be it a piece of furniture, a vase, or an antique object. You can guess many stories and see the layers of history, the story in the making, or a hidden secret.

What’s one myth about art or design collecting you’d like to debunk?

The myth is that collecting is all about glamour. A collector can make mistakes. We all make mistakes, and one should accept that, and embrace mistakes wholeheartedly. A collection without mistakes is like love without hardship.

How do you decide when a piece is “worth it”?

You don’t decide; your guts tell you it’s “worth it.” One’s impulse for a piece is the most important. Sometimes, to prove that, I walk away from the piece and get on with my day; walk around the fair, or the streets, and try to distract myself. If the image of the piece comes back to mind in a clear way with the feeling of “belonging to it” (not it belonging to me), then that’s the piece I want. But often, walking away from a masterpiece is risky as it could be snatched by someone else.

So the gut feeling is the right sign to follow. Why? Because a reasonable person who trusts their eye will try to interpret a gut-feeling; and soon, the aesthetic, the story behind the piece, the price point, and the belonging of the piece in one’s interior/collection all make sense and all add up and confirm the gut feeling.

Plugs

What’s a project from the past year that pushed you creatively?

My latest project; a large underground steel structure that I created as a private wine cellar for a great collector in the south of France. I found my inspiration in Louise Bourgeois’ installation using stretched and extruded metal pieces, forming like cages enclosing “thoughts” and emotional objects left inside; visible yet difficult to attain. I created a series of cages, separating the variety of wines by regions and types, but most importantly, working on the volumes surrounding and defining the storage areas, and the shadows and lights crossing them, playing with the renders of light generated by reflections from the bottles and the different colours of wines.

Which upcoming exhibition is on your must-see list?

Gerhard Richter’s exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, from October 17, 2025 to March 2, 2026. And of course, the exhibition I am supporting for the winner of my 2025 Bursary, Elaheh Ganji, which will take place in Soho, London, 65a Charlotte Street, from November 12th-18th, 2025.

What’s next on your own creative or collecting horizon?

Launching my second bursary (fellowship) for Creative Talents and Social Impact in January 2026.

Where can people see your work next?

In various interiors and architecture publications. Also on my Instagram account @rabih_hage_studio.