Inspiring Facts About Jinane Touma And JWT Design Studio

For Jinane Touma, architecture has never been only about buildings. Her relationship with design began through family, culture and the spaces that shaped her early life, long before it became a profession.

Today, based in Dubai, Jinane is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of JWT Design Studio, which she established with her sister, Joelle Touma. Their practice brings together architecture, interior design, lighting and landscaping, creating environments that consider not only how a space looks, but also how people experience it.

Jinane’s journey has moved through Aleppo, the United States and Dubai, bringing together different cultures, professional experiences and design influences along the way. Yet beneath that international career is a story that remains deeply personal.

It is a story shaped by creativity from an early age, a family connection to hospitality, years of professional development and the decision to build a design practice alongside her sister.

Where Jinane Touma’s Design Story Began

Jinane’s connection with creativity began early.

Growing up, she and her sister Joelle were encouraged by their mother to explore drawing and design. Creativity was therefore not introduced as something distant or purely professional. It became a natural part of the sisters’ environment.

Their family’s involvement in restaurants and hospitality added another important influence.

From an early stage, Jinane was exposed to the idea that a space can shape the way people feel. A restaurant, for example, is not experienced only through its food. Architecture, lighting, materials, proportions and atmosphere all contribute to the memory people take away with them.

One of the projects that brought those ideas together came when Jinane worked on transforming a traditional Aleppine courtyard house into a Syrian restaurant for her family.

The experience was significant because it connected architecture with something deeply familiar. Rather than working with space as an abstract design exercise, Jinane was working with heritage, hospitality and identity.

The project helped her understand how architecture can preserve a sense of place while giving it a new purpose, an understanding that would continue to influence her career.

From Aleppo to a Wider Architectural World

Jinane studied architecture in Aleppo before continuing her architectural education in the United States.

The move expanded her understanding of design beyond the environment in which she had first studied and worked. Exposure to different approaches helped her see architecture as a profession shaped by culture, context and the people who will ultimately use a space.

Her career later brought her to Dubai, where another important stage of her professional development began.

Before establishing JWT Design Studio, Jinane worked as Head of Design across three different companies. These roles required much more than creative thinking. She had to understand commercial expectations, project requirements and the practical realities of delivering design within a fast-moving international market.

Those years helped shape the experience and perspective she would eventually bring into her own practice.

The Projects That Shaped Her Professional Portfolio

Jinane’s portfolio includes work completed during the period when she was serving as Head of Design for another company.

Among those projects are the Cisco Briefing Center Dubai, Boustani chocolatier projects across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, and the DEWA and Siemens Training Center, to name a few.

These examples represent only part of a much broader body of work developed throughout her professional career.

They belong to Jinane’s portfolio from an earlier stage of her journey and should therefore be understood as part of her experience as a designer and Head of Design, rather than as projects completed under JWT Design Studio.

Working across corporate, commercial and hospitality environments also exposed her to very different project requirements.

A briefing center demands a different design approach from a chocolatier, while a training facility presents its own functional priorities. Navigating those differences contributed to the versatility she later carried into her own studio.

Creating JWT Design Studio With Her Sister Joelle

The decision to establish JWT Design Studio created an opportunity for Jinane and Joelle to bring their strengths together professionally.

Jinane contributes her background in architecture, design leadership and years of experience managing projects, while Joelle brings her expertise as an Interior Architect and Lighting Designer.

Rather than approaching architecture, interiors and lighting as disconnected stages, their partnership allows different aspects of a project to be considered as part of one wider design vision.

Landscaping also forms part of the studio’s broader capabilities, creating opportunities to consider the relationship between interior and exterior environments.

Their professional paths developed individually over time, but JWT Design Studio brought those paths together into one shared practice.

Why Her International Background Matters

Jinane’s design perspective has been shaped by more than one city or culture.

Aleppo gave her an early relationship with architecture, heritage and traditional spaces. Her education in the United States widened her exposure to international architectural thinking, while Dubai became the setting for an important period of professional growth.

Another influence comes through her connection with Italy.

As an Italian passport holder, Jinane has developed a strong appreciation for Italian design, particularly furniture, products and craftsmanship.

For her, the attraction is not simply about following a particular aesthetic. It comes from an appreciation of quality, detailing, materials and the relationship between beauty and functionality.

Together, these different influences contribute to a perspective shaped by several environments rather than a single fixed design language.

Dubai Became the Place She Calls Home

Dubai occupies an important place in Jinane’s story.

Professionally, the city provided the environment in which she could develop through senior design roles and eventually establish a business.

Personally, Dubai also became home.

For someone whose journey has crossed countries and cultures, home is not necessarily defined only by where a story begins. It can also be the place where professional experience, personal growth and future ambitions come together.

Dubai has become an important setting for the chapter Jinane continues to build today.

Designing Spaces With Character and Identity

Across Jinane’s journey, one idea has remained consistent: a successful space should have identity.

Her early experience transforming an Aleppine courtyard house already contained that lesson. Architecture was not simply about making something new. It was also about understanding what already existed, what it represented and what the space needed to become.

The same principle continues to matter in contemporary interiors.

Jinane does not see strong design as a matter of repeating whatever visual language happens to be popular at the time. A space needs to respond to its purpose, location and the people who will experience it.

That may involve architecture, furniture, lighting, materials or landscaping, but the individual elements ultimately need to work together.

Her appreciation for craftsmanship and detailing fits naturally into this philosophy because it places emphasis on the overall quality and experience of a space rather than decoration alone.

Experience Shaped Through Different Design Environments

Jinane’s career has developed through varied professional settings, each adding another layer to her understanding of architecture and design.

Working in senior design positions exposed her to corporate, commercial and hospitality projects, each requiring a different balance of creativity, functionality and execution.

Those experiences reinforced the idea that good design cannot follow one fixed formula.

Every project has its own identity, requirements and purpose. The designer’s role is to understand those differences and develop a solution that responds to them thoughtfully.

That perspective has naturally continued into her work at JWT Design Studio.

Two Sisters, One Evolving Design Story

The most compelling part of Jinane Touma’s journey may ultimately be its continuity.

What began as an early interest in creativity developed into architectural education, international experience and years of professional growth.

Her family connection with hospitality gave her an early opportunity to experience how architecture, heritage and atmosphere could come together within a real space.

Education later broadened her perspective, while professional opportunities eventually brought her to Dubai and allowed her to develop further as a designer and leader.

Then came the next chapter.

Together with Joelle, Jinane established JWT Design Studio, bringing two complementary professional backgrounds into one shared practice.

Their story is not based on one defining project or one particular design style. It has developed gradually through family influence, education, relocation, experience and a shared interest in creating meaningful spaces.

The Next Chapter for Jinane Touma

Today, Jinane continues developing her work through JWT Design Studio while drawing from the experiences that have shaped her career.

Her background in architecture, exposure to different cultures and experience across diverse project types all contribute to the perspective she brings to the studio today.

JWT Design Studio represents a new stage of that journey rather than a departure from everything that came before it.

For Jinane, this chapter is about applying years of architectural experience and design leadership to spaces that balance clarity, character, function and purpose.

Her journey also reveals something larger about creative careers. They are rarely shaped by a single influence or one defining moment.

Sometimes they begin through childhood creativity. Sometimes they develop through heritage, education, relocation, demanding professional roles or the experience gained from working across many different projects.

Over time, those influences come together to form a design language of their own.

For Jinane Touma, that language continues to evolve through architecture, interiors and the practice she is building alongside her sister in Dubai.

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