Retaj Khalifa is a 22-year-old Libyan designer, born in Beirut and currently based in Malta. She recently completed a Bachelor's degree in Spatial Design at MCAST, where she developed a multidisciplinary approach to architecture, interior environments, and human-centered design. Her cross-cultural background has shaped a deep sensitivity to space, identity, and adaptation — values that continue to inform her creative process. Retaj is committed to continuous learning, growth, and pushing the boundaries of design to address real-world challenges with empathy and precision. Whether through hands-on model-making, digital prototyping, or conceptual development, she strives to engage critically with the built environment and its potential for meaningful impact.
Retaj approaches design as a form of spatial storytelling rooted in empathy, adaptability, and cultural context. Informed by her Libyan heritage and experiences across Beirut and Malta, she sees design as a tool to address real-world needs while honoring identity and place.
Her work blends research with hands-on exploration, combining digital tools and physical making to craft environments that are both functional and emotionally resonant. Guided by a human-centered ethos, she strives to create spaces that are inclusive, responsive, and grounded in purpose.
Khalifa’s design process begins with deep research and contextual analysis — listening closely to people, place, and purpose. Each project starts with a question, not a solution, allowing her to explore the spatial, cultural, and emotional dimensions of a brief before proposing form.
She moves fluidly between digital and physical methods, combining sketching, model-making, and 3D visualization to test ideas in both concept and materiality. Iteration plays a central role, ensuring that each decision is grounded in function, clarity, and relevance.
Her approach is collaborative, reflective, and adaptive — committed to designing with rather than just for. Whether developing a spatial intervention, product, or system, the outcome is always guided by human experience, structural logic, and a drive to build meaning into every detail.
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