Beirut, in the words of one designer I talked to recently, is like a third world country that’s put on some makeup.

It is the capital of a country that has not had a president in two years. There are daily power outages. It can take an hour to heat water to take a shower, and garbage removal is a serious problem. There are almost no street signs, but one can summon an Uber relatively easily.

Despite all this, or perhaps because of it, creativity thrives in Beirut, which seems to have more than its share of architects, interior designers, industrial designers and artists. Most speak at least three languages, have been educated in other countries and have multiple passports, so they could live someplace seemingly easier.

“There is a soul here that you can’t find anywhere else,” said Nada Debs, a designer in her 50s with a shop in downtown Beirut.