CATHERINE KHATER
Creative Bio
Driven by a design philosophy rooted in the art of juxtaposition, Catherine Khater is an emerging interior designer drawing meaning from contrast and imperfection, into a harmonious form of storytelling and conceptual ideology. The interplay between past and present is central to her design process. Perhaps kindled by her childhood dream of going to Paris and admiration for the culture, or the skill of fabricating spaces with old and new furniture extended to her by her mother; Catherine’s work juxtaposes the nostalgia of the past with contemporary insight. Catherine sees design as a pursuit of beauty, not necessarily something that is perfect but something that points in the direction of something which is. Her work is an ongoing dialogue between what was and what could be, always seeking harmony in the art of tension and juxtaposition, and striving to see the beauty in the little things, especially in a world where it is slowly being overlooked in the constant pursuit for the new, the loud, and the flawless.
Design Statement
Artefact is an exclusive fine-dining restaurant and art gallery that embodies a refined collision of contrasting aesthetics through the exploration of beauty in the unexpected. The project explores a deliberate collision of eras, ideologies, and aesthetics; a refined marriage of the classic and the contemporary, the raw and the polished, the ornate and the minimal. Paying homage to the 19th Century sandstone terrace where the restaurant resides, the project tells a story of cultural layering and aesthetic tension, embodying how restoration can go beyond preservation to become a poetic reinterpretation of the beauty of the past. As client Massimo Bottura once said “In the end it’s never just about food, it’s about the concept of the food that makes it into something far more interesting” - likewise, shown through the interior of Artefact.
