Abbara, an Arabic word meaning "ferry,” is a progressive design studio. Much like its namesake,...
the brand serves as a vessel, crossing boundaries and carrying ideas from the shore of the known into new horizons. Every time we embark on a new project, we take the road “less traveled by,” embracing risks as opportunities and driven by a foundational idea:
to create is to wander with purpose.
"Design is forever lingering in-between retrospection and speculation."
— Amani Abbara
Navigators
We do not drift into chaos, we sail through it.
Nada Abbara, Founder
Artist & Multidisciplinary Designer
Amani Abbara, Co-Founder
Interior Designer & Creative Director
How it all began...
Abbara, founded in 2021 by sisters and designers Nada and Amani Abbara, is a joint venture and multidisciplinary design studio that reflects their commitment to discovering the fundamental reality behind each creation. Rooted in intention, they approach each commission as both inquiry and offering, where concept and craft unfold with equal rigor. Unconstrained by genre, they explore novel approaches and promise their clientele an extraordinary experience imbued with fascinating possibilities!
Nada Abbara is an artist and practicing multidisciplinary designer holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design (2019) and a Master of Fine Arts in Design (2021) from VCUarts Qatar. Since 2021, she has worked within a marketing environment, contributing to strategic visual communication, branding, and design development. Her experience spans spatial and product design, robotics, set design, and visual arts, bridging structure and narrative through a process grounded in research, experimentation, and conceptual clarity.
Her research investigates interactive design as a study of movement, where geometry, spatial experience, and physical computing converge. Emerging from her MFA investigations, she examines how polyhedral forms and responsive systems can activate space, transforming static structures into dynamic environments. Rather than approaching geometry as fixed, she considers it a living framework that shifts with perception, and engages the human body. Through this lens, her work understands interaction as a calibrated relationship between form, motion, and spatial perception.
Amani Abbara graduated from VCUarts Qatar in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design and a minor in Art History. While her formal education is rooted in spatial design, she has expanded her creative horizons through the dedicated practice of graphic design and the exploration of artificial intelligence—mastering these disciplines through hands-on experience and professional application to push the boundaries of her design discourse.
Her work is defined by extensive research into design history and the thoughtful application of materials within interior environments. She perceives design as both personal and collective; without identity and culture, it remains a passive impression—a fleeting, unfelt moment. This philosophy was the stepping stone for her holistic approach to design and stimulated her research into transforming the traditional Syrian home. Amani’s practice is dedicated to honoring the past and inspiring a new generation of designers through a deeply humane perspective.