BEIRUT — Fifty years ago, the Armenian district of Lebanon’s capital was a commercial hub, with artisans making detailed carpets, meticulously designed furniture and elaborate jewelry. But the district of Bourj Hammoud is now in decline, with stores and factories closing due to poor government planning and a worsening economic situation.

One of the few recent success stories that has emerged from the district was that of Karen Chekerdjian, a Lebanese-Armenian designer who specializes in modern, abstract and elegant furniture. Born in Beirut, Chekerdjian left in 1997 to study in Italy at the Domus Academy, a private post-graduate design school in Milan. Returning to Lebanon in 2000, she had to acclimatize to a post-civil war Beirut.

“I realized only [upon my return] that there was no furniture industry,” Chekerdjian told Al-Monitor. “I am the first generation of designers after the war. Everything that was related to furniture design had already collapsed because of the war, and also because there has never been a government [that] helped to develop [the] industry.”

In 2001, Chekerdjian opened her own studio in Beirut and operated out of the Port of Beirut for 10 years; she moved the studio to Bourj Hammoud in 2016. Chekerdjian said that with this change she “hoped that [the] industrial area could become the place for all artist studios. But even that is difficult because there is no plan — from anyone — to do something about it.”