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Dubai Design District (d3) is preparing to welcome the region’s leading design festival once again. Now in its 12th edition, Dubai Design Week runs from 3 to 8 November under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture. It is presented in strategic partnership with d3 and supported by Dubai Culture.
This year’s programme looks at what design can do to strengthen connection, at a moment when the way we live, work and communicate is changing quickly. Festival director Natasha Carella notes that design’s influence reaches far beyond objects and spaces, shaping how we live and how our cities respond to change.
The headline event, Downtown Design (4-8 November), is the Middle East’s leading fair for high-quality contemporary design. International names include Gaggenau, Kohler, Venini and Ethimo. Regional talent is represented by Tashkeel’s Tanween Design Programme, the Athath Fellowship and Iwan Maktabi, who presents new works by UAE designers Nadine Kanso and Omar Al Gurg.
For our readers in the luxury world, the immersive pop-ups will be especially interesting:
- Buccellati returns for a second year with a pop-up created with British designer Luke Edward Hall, inspired by the mythology and symbolism of water.
- Memphis Milano gets a dedicated exhibit celebrating the movement’s bold graphic language and its lasting influence.
- Veuve Clicquot Lounge is imagined by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Ilori, in his signature colourful, optimistic style.
- The Forum brings talks and keynotes, led by interior architect Tristan Auer.
Under the theme Atmospheres, Urban Commissions has named Three Gardens and a Room by NAO Architects, founded by Reem Nassour, as this year’s winner. It reimagines the garden as a series of connected spaces for gathering, pausing and connecting.
Abwab becomes a group exhibition titled In Other Words, exploring language as something designed, experienced and constantly reshaped. Across d3, large-scale installations come from Arquitectonica, Nordic Office Architects, Nikken Sekkei with SOBOKUYA, aestudio, ALTER, Palm and Palazzo, and Emirati architect Rasha Saffarini, among others.
Jewellery lovers should note L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels. Its new exhibition reveals experimental archaeological research into the lost goldsmithing techniques of Second Iron Age craftsmen. The UAE Designer Exhibition, shaped by AlZaina Lootah under the theme Inherited Futures, and Worlds Ahead by Woods Bagot complete the exhibitions.
Pinterest makes its first appearance at the festival. IQOS and Ouchhh Collective debut CURIOUS STUDIO, Ethr presents Desert Dweller, a contemporary take on the Bedouin tent, and BMW Middle East returns with a design-led activation.
Hands-on workshops in the Maker Space are open to all ages and levels, with sessions led by UAL, SAE University College, HKS Architects and Leica Camera. On 7-8 November, the outdoor Marketplace brings together independent makers and homegrown brands, with homeware, jewellery, fashion and sustainable goods alongside food, live performances and children’s activities.
Dubai Design Week confirms the city’s place as a design capital for the region, and its status as the first Middle East city named a UNESCO Creative City of Design.
