Designer Interview: Joy Herro from Art Facilitator to Designer

From Lebanon to Milan, passing through Rome, Joy Herro is the incarnation of eclecticism and alliances between languages. Art facilitator, architect , in love with beauty, she has put down the roots of her ideal home in the city of Milan despite being a tireless researcher and explorer by nature and vocation. With The Great Design Disaster, a format opened in 2018, Herro has questioned the fascinating role of the collector through a creative triangulation between the protagonists of making. How does it work? Together with the client-collector, Herro generates the idea for a new object or a new series in total support of the production phases, always in close contact with the most important hub, the artisans. An acute and intelligent practice that becomes a precious opportunity for the client to change perspective and acquire an authentic awareness of the value of the objects that are collected.

During Design Week 2025, Joy Herro opens the doors of the first physical home of The Great Design Disaster , a historic place of Milanese antiques in via della Moscova, ready to change skin while preserving its spirit. “A permanent space that I am very proud of where you can breathe the continuous search for beauty through well-made objects. The inauguration in April sees the space show a selection curated by me from the shop's past and then in the near future transform into a place open to ever-changing contaminations” explains the designer. The trail of the Lebanese art & design facilitator within the design week continues with the installations in the rooms of Villa Borsani in Varedo, in the Alcova circuit. The Library Show project by Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery and VOIDS project by Objects of Common Interest for The Breeder Gallery, which are added to the exhibition of a series of Overdrive collection tables by The Great Design Disaster present in the spaces of Nilufar Depot.

Finally there is the curation that sees Herro in the role of designer art director with Fluid Echoes by SUPER LOOP, a brand born in Dubai from the volcanic mind of a Lebanese collector who is also a traveller and art enthusiast. These are ten complements produced in 12 editions strongly inspired by Middle Eastern craftsmanship present inside Palazzo Litta for MoscaPartner Variations with the theme Migrations . Thus tables, mirrors and cabinets in wavy beech, poplar and walnut wood, appear sinuous and immersed in the contemporary thanks to the color and pop resin but at the same time firmly tied to tradition with precious mother-of-pearl inlays.   “They are pieces inspired by different cultures to give a universal aspect so that they can travel the world.” Herro’s gaze is important, born in Baalbek, one of the best preserved examples of Roman architecture in the Near East, she cares about the preservation and respect of the gaze to the past. “We live in total confusion: if once design was inspired and influenced by different factors, today we look at it to repeat it without a real complete sense, but for pure survival. We need more honesty in paying homage to the work of designers, without copying”.

MoscaPartner Variations, Corso Magenta 24. Nilufar Depot, via Lancetti 34. Alcova Milano 2025, Villa Borsani Via Umberto I, 148, Varedo.