DHAHRAN: The eighth edition of Tanween, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture’s annual flagship design event, ended this week with a major announcement — from 2026, the event will be known as Ithra Design Week.
Ithra Programs Manager Noura Al-Zamil, speaking at the closing ceremony on Saturday night, highlighted the significance of the transition.
“After eight years of Tanween, Ithra Design Week represents a new chapter in fostering creativity and collaboration — bringing together designers, communities and ideas to expand our impact across Saudi Arabia and beyond,” she said.
This year’s edition ran for six days and featured seven hands-on workshops, 10 panel discussions, eight exhibitions, four design hackathons and several guided tours.
According to Ithra: “The platform will integrate design across all Ithra facilities, including the museum, library, cinema, publishing programs, and the IdeaLab.
“It will also grow beyond Ithra’s walls to activate public spaces across the Eastern Province and connect local and global creative communities.”
That outward focus began this year through guided tours developed with the Municipality of Khobar, linking visitors to public art, architectural landmarks and design-led urban spaces.
In a further move toward community impact, two pavilions created through the Tanween Challenges will be permanently installed in Khobar parks in collaboration with the Alfozan Social Foundation.
A highlight of the Tanween Majlis — the event’s dynamic talks program — brought together international design week leaders to discuss how design events shape public life and cultural development.
Speakers included Natasha Carella, director of Dubai Design Week; CEO and co-founder of Isola Design Group Gabriele Cavallaro, Fahad Al-Obeidy, director of design at Doha Biennial, and Bisher Tabbaa, co-director of Amman Design Week.
Moderated by Tanween Program Lead Shahad Al-Wazani, the panel underlined the event’s role in creating a shared platform where diverse practices from across the Arab world met Saudi Arabia’s growing design landscape.
This edition also welcomed creative partners Dubai Design Week and Isola Design Group. Gulf International Bank joined as a strategic partner, with Retal and the Architecture and Design Commission serving as signature partners.
Four official exhibition partners — Iwan Maktabi, Bricklab, Rizomasr and Mujassam Watan — also contributed, while Almajdouie (GENESIS) supported the event as a logistics partner.
During the closing ceremony, Ithra also announced the winners of the 2025 Tanween Challenges, which invited designers to propose solutions for communities under-served by design under the theme “Design for the 90 percent.”
The Global Impact Challenge was awarded to Walaa Sharaf, Arwa Omar, Farah Al-Kurdi, Maryam Al-Khateeb and Zaina Mayet, while the Product Design Challenge winners were Meryam Al-Qarah, Redah Alali, Fatimah Bazroon and Abdullah Al-Dohailan.
The awards for the Urban Spaces Challenge went to Sara Al-Hothali, Saif Al-Nuimi, Aleksandra Tadel, Abdulrahman Al-Shehri and Naif Al-Ajaji, and the Visual Communication Challenge recognized Rahaf Qurashi, Mohammed Altohami, Raneem Al-Raddadi, Zaid Sbeitan and Abrar Abusham.
Their prototypes will now move into further development and contribute to the inaugural Ithra Design Week.
