Bio

Trained as an architect, Joanne Hayek is a multidisciplinary designer whose practice expanded into fashion design, urban planning, digital design, and programming, with an emphasis on sustainability and innovation. Joanne is an avid researcher whose studies focus on material remediation, parametric design, digital fabrication, real-time mapping, smart cities, and interactive data visualization. Her work has been exhibited at international events such as the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Paris Fashion Week, and Dubai Design Week among others. She is the co-founder of Vanina, a fashion brand based in Beirut and distributed internationally, with a mission to use fashion as a tool for social and environmental impact. Joanne is also the founder of An Open Studio, a collaborative practice promoting trans-disciplinary design research for sustainable futures. In parallel to her entrepreneurial journey, she has been involved in education and research since 2013. She is now an Assistant Professor at the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), the first multidisciplinary design university in the region, launched in 2018 in collaboration with MIT and Parsons. Prior to joining DIDI, Joanne was a Senior Lecturer of architecture and design, at the American University of Beirut. She has also lectured at renowned universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and The London School of Economics.