Inside Noor Fares’ Gstaad Library: A Map of the Inner World

“My library feels like a map of my inner world."

"It is a download of what moves me, what I am studying, what I return to, and what continually feeds my imagination,” she says. Two books in particular, however, have profoundly shaped the way she approaches design: Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice by Robert Lawlor and The Book of Stones by Robert Simmons. “These are not books I simply read once and put away. They live with me in the studio. Sacred Geometry gives form to something invisible. It reminds me that proportion, pattern, and symmetry can carry meaning far beyond decoration. The Book of Stones is more elemental. It connects me back to the character, symbolism, and energetic language of the gems themselves.” Over time, both books have become part of her visual vocabulary, extensions of the philosophy that underpins her work.

Beyond design texts and art books are the volumes she returns to for grounding: The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali and The Bhagavad Gita among them. “I believe books hold energy, and certain books can become talismans in their own right."

When I need to feel grounded or centered, I return to these. They remind me that creativity is not only about producing something beautiful. It is also about intention, attention, and the state from which the work is born.”

Completing her library is a selection of Assouline volumes anchoring a corner of her shelves. Bals: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century speaks to her love of theater, transformation, and the elaborate ritual of dressing up. “For my 40th birthday in Beirut,” she recalls, “I hosted a party inspired by Beirut’s golden era and sent my friends a very detailed mood board because I wanted everyone to really go for it.” Le Bal Oriental, she adds, “has always made me dream. It captures the kind of glamour, excess, and imagination I adore.”

Then there are Julia Chaplin’s Gypset books, which Fares sees less as travel books and more as portraits of a particular way of living: free-spirited, atmospheric, intimate.

“I love entering someone’s home and imagining the story behind every object.”

“Those books feed that instinct and often give me ideas for future adventures.” Finally, Gstaad Glam carries a more personal resonance. Living in Gstaad, the mountains, alpine light, and rituals of the seasons have quietly shaped her eye. It is a place of contrast: glamorous yet rooted in nature, refined yet full of playfulness. "That balance is something I constantly return to in my work."