EAST Architecture Studio is an architecture studio founded by Charles Kettaneh and Nicolas Fayad and based in Beirut. It works on residential projects, urban planning, cultural buildings, offices, exhibitions, and research.
Under the banner of preservation as practice, the studio engages with contemporary society and traditional culture, incorporating the past into the design of the present and future uses of the spaces they work with.
The studio's work operates in diverse contexts and temporalities to create timeless architectural design, collaborating with local artisans and international institutions to respond to current challenges.
In 2022, the studio received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the renovation of Oscar Niemeyer's Guest House in Tripoli, Lebanon. In 2024, the studio won the AlMusalla Prize for the design of a space for prayer and contemplation that opened to the public in January 2025 at the venue of the Islamic Art Biennial in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Charles Kettaneh is an architect from the American University of Beirut and the Pratt Institute in New York. He worked at international firms in the United States, such as RSVP Studio and Perkins Eastman. He later returned to Lebanon, where he worked at Raed Abillama Architects for several years before co-founding East Architecture Studio. His work has been exhibited and published at the Pratt Institute and in InProcess magazine.
Nicolas Fayad is an architect from the American University of Beirut and holds a master's degree with honors from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. His work has been exhibited at la Biennale di Venezia and published in Wallpaper magazine and the New York Review of Architecture. Nicolas has taught at the MIT Graduate School of Architecture and Planning and is an adjunct professor of the Practice of Architecture at his alma mater in Beirut.
