Dubai Design Week (Nov 12-17, 2018) Dubai Design Week is Cementing Dubai as the Design Capital of the Middle East

Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), and supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Dubai Design Week is back for its fourth edition. Taking place at locations across the city, this year’s programme is the most comprehensive to date, with more than 120 companies participating and 230 events taking place, encompassing exhibitions, commissioned installations, awards and competitions, talks and workshops, tours and experiences for design enthusiasts and public visitors alike.

An accessible meeting point for the global design community, since its inauguration in 2015, Dubai Design Week has become a platform for growing and enabling the region’s design scene, attracting 60,000 visitors to the event at d3 alone throughout the 2017 edition. Dubai Design Week launched its first app, allowing visitors to create personalized schedules on the go based on preferences and interests and to be the first to get notified of must-attend launches and events.

d3’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, says: “d3 is once again thrilled to be the strategic partner and host of the fourth edition of Dubai Design Week. For 2018, we are proud to add d3’s ‘UAE Design Stories’ exhibition to the programme and highlight several projects under d3’s ‘Design for Good’ initiative which supports and promotes social change within the UAE. It's always important for us to continue to support the growth of the design industry as a whole and it is events like this that celebrate design from across the region which truly cement Dubai, and d3, as a design destination.”

Dubai Design District, View / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

Key Exhibitions

The Middle East’s leading design trade fair, Downtown Design is on view from 13-16 November with +175 premium design brands from the region and across the world. The fair presents a new element titled Downtown Editions, a curated showcase dedicated to limited-edition and bespoke design, capsule collections and designer collaborations. Design weeks from the region, including Amman, Beirut, and Casablanca, will unite within Downtown Editions, bringing co-curated showcases of some of the Middle East’s brightest design talent. Under the theme of Livable Cities, this year’s fair features an indoor garden space by landscape designers desert INK, creative pop-up concepts, and installations by globally renowned designers, alongside industry talks by +25 leaders of the international design scene at The Forum.

An exhibition of life-changing inventions designed by graduates from the world’s best design and technology schools, Global Grad Show values innovation that transcends technology and exists independent of wealth; equality without hierarchy amongst universities, regions and designers; universal design open to all types of projects; and impact on the world at large through solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. With more than 1000 submissions Global Grad Show 2018 is showcasing 150 selected projects from 100 of world’s top universities and emerging programmes.

Named after the Arabic word for ‘doors’, Abwab is an annually remodeled exhibition dedicated to design from the region. This year, Dubai Design Week stages the fourth edition of Abwab within five dedicated pavilions designed by Architecture + Other Things, composed of natural materials including fallen twigs and timber coated in recycled newspaper pulp. Under the theme ‘Between the Lines’, commissioned designers from five communities, Amman, Beirut, Dubai, Eastern Provinces of KSA, together with Pavilion Partner Ithra, and Kuwait City will produce design experiences for cultural exchange.

Abwab, Amman Pavilion, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

Abwab, Kuwait City Desert Cast, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

HIGHLIGHTS OF DUBAI DESIGN WEEK 2018

Exhibitions and Pop-ups

Dubai Design Week partners with social networking giant Facebook through a real-world activation set in within the heart of Dubai Design District (d3). Customized workshops and knowledge sharing activities have been specially devised to celebrate the Arab creative community. Facebook’s 6-day physical presence will showcase how people can use the platform to connect and build communities in memorable, creative and responsible ways.

Fractals 22.0, Design Aware Making Space Workshop, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

An exhibition highlighting eight of the brightest Emirati talents from across the country, UAE Design Stories: The Next Generation from The Emirates is a vehicle for generating awareness on the emerging creative profiles from the UAE. Supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, the exhibition is curated by Emirati product designer Khalid Shafar. Participating designers were invited to delve into historic photographic archives of the UAE surrounding the region’s nomadic roots and to interpret pieces from the archives into modern day designs, taking their inspiration from their UAE ancestors.

UAE Design Stories: The Next Generation from The Emirates / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

UAE Design Stories, Alia Al Mazrooei, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

Design-incubator Tashkeel presents ‘Design+Making UAE’; a destination for those curious about the local design ecosystem, exploring design practice in the UAE from concept to completion. The roadshow exhibition ‘Original Comes from Vitra’ consists of a series of booths, each dedicated to telling the story of a Vitra original. Each booth narrates the history of the product with drawings, sketches, and photographs of prototypes. Examples include some of the world’s most iconic pieces of furniture; the Panton chair, the Standard chair by Jean Prouve and the Lounge Chair by Charles & Ray Eames.

Urban Commissions, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

DRAK, the design collective based in Dubai’s Ras Al Khor community is conducting a community initiative titled ‘From RAK to DRAK’ where three designers, Amal Haliq, Faissal El-Malak, and Khalid Mezaina, focus on three commercial outlets from the neighborhood. After extended research and observation based on the needs of the outlets, each practitioner designed a new and contemporary product. Photographer Ola Allouz is covering all three projects and more of Ras Al Khor industrial scenes in her cinematography project displayed as part of the exhibition at d3.

ProtoPieces is an exhibition of furniture work designed by 12 students of the College of Architecture Art and Design (CAAD) at the American University of Sharjah. Each piece explores a specific type of joint or detail and the exhibition shows the complete design process, including a number of sketches, prototypes and scale models.

Installations

A site-specific installation by Dubai-based firm ANARCHITECT, ‘Circadian Light Synthesis’ is set out over two pavilions at one of the d3 entrance points; one with natural light and the other with artificial light provided by Delta Light, exploring the human circadian rhythm and our relationship with natural light - both from the sun and the moon. Abet Laminati have teamed up with renowned Italian designer Paola Navone, creating a giant jigsaw puzzle made from laminate pieces decorated with graphic baroque motifs in bold and clashing color patterns, inspired by oriental printing. When placed together, the puzzle reveals itself to be an oversized gate; something enjoyable and interactive for all visitors of Dubai Design Week.

Istanbul-based Tabanlioğlu Architects presents ‘housEmotion’, an illuminated pavilion composed of white rods forming the shape of a universal symbol for a house, the embedded lights transform the structure into a glowing lantern at night.

housEmotion by Tabanlioglu Architects, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

Waterligh, Studio Roosegaarde, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

Combining the beauty of sculpture and augmented reality, ‘Parametric Surfaces’ by SUPERFUTUREDESIGN* consists of multi-faceted surfaces made from sound-absorbing materials. The suspended interactive installation appears as a three-dimensional box frame serving to create a backdrop for visitors to experience a digitally enhanced virtual reality.

Parametric Surfaces, Superfuturedesign, 2018 / Courtesy of Dubai Design Week

As part of the ‘Design for Good’ initiative, Dubai Design District (d3) has commissioned the social enterprise established to harness traditional Afghan skills, Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative (FBMI) and Emirati designer Roudha Alshamsi to create ‘The Mesh’; a series of domed shelters inspired by the traditional yurts found in Afghanistan, incorporating patterns sourced from traditional motifs, handwoven by FBMI artisans.

Dubai Design Week opened on November 12 and will run until November 17, 2018.