DUBAI: Dubai Design Week returns for its 11th edition from Nov. 4 to 9, with several highlights recently announced by the organizers.
Downtown Design, the anchor event of the week, will showcase innovative products and design solutions, alongside a schedule of pop-up concepts, talks and panel discussions.
This year’s showcase of furniture, lighting, materials, lifestyle objects and accessories will feature several highlights, the organizers stated in a release.
This includes BEIT Collective’s objects crafted in Lebanon, the debut of “Strata” by Pakistani designer Yousef Shabaz, the “Designed in Saudi” exhibition by the Design & Architecture Commission of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture.
In addition, Editions will showcase limited-edition art and design from regional and international creators, spanning prints, photography, works on paper, ceramics, contemporary design, and artist multiples.
Meanwhile, Urban Commissions, the event’s design competition, this year challenged participants to explore the concept of a courtyard.
Designers and architects were invited to reimagine it as communal urban infrastructure, with UAE-based design studio Some Kind of Practice, founded by Omar Darwish and Abdulla Abbas, winning the competition for their work, “When Does a Threshold Become a Courtyard?”
Abwab, meaning doors, is a yearly program that supports designers from across west, south and east Asia, as well as the African continent, by commissioning installations.
This year, practitioners were invited to respond to the theme “In the Details,” exploring “material intelligence, precision and cultural nuance through the lens of ornamentalism,” according to Dubai Design Week.
Natasha Carella, director for Dubai Design Week, stated: “This year, our direction takes a more reflective approach, exploring design not only as a practice of innovation but also as a social connector, a civic and cultural force that shapes how we live together, communicate and build systems of care.”
