A living musician of Palestinian heritage, Simon Shaheen combined Eastern and Western musical elements in a very creative and simple manner. Shaheen started playing the oud when he was only five years old and it wasn’t long before he picked up the violin too. He graduated from the Tel Aviv University, having majored in Arabic literature and music. The instrumentalist was a lover of academia, as he continued to study music in New York (including ivy, Columbia University) in the 1980s. Now a U.S. Citizen, Shaheen still resides in New York and leads an ensemble he founded. To honor his streamlined approach to music, we opted for a simpler style for room design. The intermingling of the two musical cultures is conveyed through the Palestinian sewing patterns. Additionally, the blue color scheme in the room is a reference to his most famous album, “The Blue Fame”.