Dubai Design Week 2024 highlights the vernacular, regenerative and sustainable

Dubai Design Week, the first design event in the Middle East, is returning for its 10th edition with a dynamic cultural programme this November. The event is held in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), a member of TECOM Group PJSC and supported by Dubai Culture. On view from November 5 - 10, 2024, the programme for Dubai Design Week 2024 will celebrate the city's evolution as a global design hub, reflect on the impact of design on the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) dynamic interior design and furniture market while also honouring the local community. "Responding to the complexities of a modern world, sustainable practices and nuances of vernacular architecture across the region and wider global south take centre stage this year, with thought-provoking programming that explores creativity in all its forms and how design can better our common future," says Natasha Carella, director for Dubai Design Week.

With STIR as a media partner, the upcoming design festival, to be held in d3, will platform more than 500 acclaimed and emerging designers, brands and creative leaders from over 40 countries through installations, exhibitions and disparate experimental mediums. "The creative industries are as much fuel to the economic engine as they are architects of identity and culture. Dubai's focus on nurturing creative communities with dedicated platforms has contributed to a rich, multicultural and native design narrative that represents the emirate's ambitions, vision and ethos. Dubai Design Week has been instrumental in weaving that narrative over the past decade," shares Khadija Al Bastaki, senior vice president of d3, part of TECOM Group.

Dubai Design Week also includes two intra events—Downtown Design and Editions. While Downtown Design is a leading design fair and the headline event for Dubai Design Week, Editions is the region's first fair dedicated to limited-edition art and design. Marking its debut this year is Editions, which will run from November 6 - 9, 2024. It will platform 50 galleries, design studios and collectives that pertain to the fields of contemporary design, photography, ceramics, and more.

Downtown Design exemplifies contemporary design and the latest trends in the realm of furniture design, interiors, lighting design and home accessories with the display of various collections, innovative products and design solutions across exhibitions, networking events and a line-up of talks, keynotes and master classes at The Forum. A few exhibitors include brands and studios such as The Bowery Company, ferm LIVING, Haberdashery, Kartell, Poltrona Frau, Faye Toogood, Draga & Aurel, Nika Zupanc, Sebastian Herkner, Yabu Pushelburg, Babnimnim Design Studio, B&B Italia, Preciosa, Lasvit, Antonio Lupi, Poliform, Meridiani, Gallotti&Radice and Baituti Home, among others. Isola Design gallery will present a serrated selection of innovative designers and studios from around the world under the theme This Future is Currently Unavailable, inviting reflection on design's role in shaping our collective future.

Dubai Design Week also organises an annual design competition called Urban Commissions. This year's theme Tawila or 'table' invited designers and architects to propose innovative community furniture that explores the table beyond its form and exemplifies its role as a space for communal experiences. Winner of the competition, Oman-based research and design studio Altqadum, will display their TukTukDum during the week-long design exhibition. Marwan Albalushi, Najd Albalushi and Abdulrahim Alkendi, who lead Altqadum, took inspiration for the table design from the musical culture of the Gulf where communities traditionally gather around and accompany musicians. Hence, TukTukDum is an innovative table punctured with holes and featuring play instruments encouraging individuals to interact with the furniture and become performers of their own accord.

Abwab, a programme scheduled to take place during Dubai Design Week 2024, is designed to support designers from the South West Asian and North African (SWANA) region. Abwab, which translates to 'door', serves as a literal and metaphorical gateway into new ideas. Every year, installations and pavilions are commissioned to reflect relevant global and regional contexts. Over the years, more than 180 designers from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE have participated in Abwab.

This year, practitioners will delve into vernacular architecture and the impact of community-centric architectural methods on new environments, via their installations. These include three installations: A Present/Absent Mudhif by Iraq-based Ola Saad Znad portrays the Marsh Arabs' architectural heritage in Iraq using reeds and ancient Sumerian techniques. Material Witnesses and Narrating Lifeforms by Ethiopia-based Miriam Hillawi Abraham draws inspiration from 'coral stone' found in early settlements on the East African coast. Lastly, ReRoot by Lebanese-Palestinian designer Dahlia Hamati, Jordanian-Palestinian architect Dima Al Srouri, Finland-based Rosa Hämäläinen and France-based Andy Cartier, explores emergency housing solutions with palm waste and mycelium.

In addition to the aforementioned programmes, the design fair will platform nearly 30 large scale installations that explore ancient technologies, modern innovations and materiality. One of these is a pavilion design made from prefabricated earth blocks by Dubai-based architecture and interior design studio Bone and Spain-based technical specialists in rammed earth architecture, Fetdeterra. Japan-based architecture firm Mitsubishi Jisho Design's conceptualisation of a traditional tea-house made from 3D printed waste sawdust will serve as an intersection between tradition and modern ways of building. Ross Lovegrove and Ila Colombo's tech-driven multidisciplinary practice DEOND will explore the notion of 'phygital' therapy with an AI-infused 'second skin' fabric that responds to the body's state of being. Other installations on display will include those made using various organic and upcycled materials such as banana fibre, soybean wax, henna, Himalayan salt, terracotta and scrap metal.

Among the exhibitions and activations at Dubai Design Week 2024 are: the fifth edition of the annual UAE Designer Exhibition, which will showcase works exploring the theme of comfort and function by emerging UAE-based designers; Monocle's shop and café takeover of FRAME in d3; Art Jameel Shop's pop-up shop offering products designed by the region's creatives as well as artisanal homeware and accessories crafted by refugees; and Abu Dhabi's community arts space 421 offering design-led products by local makers via their shop Dukkan421.

Various talks, workshops and masterclasses are curated to inspire and elevate skills across design disciplines by renowned creatives such as Eames Demetrios, Lina Ghotmeh and India Mahdavi, who will offer her insights on multicultural design and the fusion of identities in contemporary space. Designed to cater to varied audiences of different ages, interests and experience levels, these programmes hosted within Maker Space aim to inculcate design thinking among all. Additionally, the design festival's weekend Marketplace, open from November 9 - 10, 2024, will offer a consciously curated outdoor retail experience where visitors can skim through and buy uniquely designed and sustainable products, try varied food items and indulge in various children's activities.

With STIR as a media partner, Dubai Design Week will take place from November 5 - 10, 2024, at the Dubai Design District (d3) in Dubai, UAE.