More than 500 designers, architects and creative practitioners are convening at Dubai Design District this week for one of the region’s flagship design events.
Dubai Design Week, running between Tuesday and Sunday, will feature commissioned projects, installations, exhibitions, talks and workshops. While sustainability has been a focus of the event in the past, the topic has a special resonance in the run-up to Cop28, with many of the featured installations and talks touching upon design-led solutions to environmental issues.
The event’s highlight, Downtown Design, will also be holding a fund-raising initiative in support of the Gaza relief efforts. The entrance fee of Dh25 will be donated to Emirates Red Crescent, with the funds raised to be matched by the Art Dubai Group, the organising body of Downtown Design.
Here are seven highlights of this year’s Dubai Design Week.
Downtown Design
Now in its 10th year, Downtown Design will run between Wednesday and Saturday. The event gives artists and designers the platform to present and sell their work.
More than 300 brands and designers from 40 countries are scheduled to take part this year. These include high-end Italian furniture manufacturing company Cassina. Spanish company Cosentino, meanwhile, will be presenting a Roman bath concept with Dubai interior design company Kristina Zanic Consultants.
Italian furniture production company Flexform with be making their debut with a sprawling outdoor presentation at the centre of the fair. Other participating high-end brands include Kartell, Poltrona Frau, as well as regional names Fadi Sarieddine Studio, Collectional Gallery, and Don Tanani. Four projects will also be revealed by the designer cohort of Tashkeel’s annual Tanween programme.
Abwab: Of Palm
Made entirely using parts of palm trees, Emirati architect Abdalla AlMulla’s Of Palm is one of the large-scale installations that will be unveiled and presented at Dubai Design District during Dubai Design Week. The work will come as part of the Abwab initiative, which aims to bolster cultural exchange through design and architecture.
“I was challenged to develop and create a concept that demonstrates how to use resources in a sustainable way,” AlMulla told The National in a previous interview. “Driven by the concept of scarcity and in alignment with the sustainability theme, I decided to harness an existing natural resource and to use it in a creative way to serve beyond its original purpose.”
Installations
The event will be replete with thought-provoking installations that incorporate the theme of sustainability. Among these is Urban Hadeera by Wael Al Awar and Kazuma Yamao, the architects behind waiwai. The installation is inspired by UAE vernacular architecture and produced using an eco-friendly cement alternative.
Flowing Threads by Palestinian textile designer Areen Hassan incorporates disentangled threads that reflect on individual identity and the world’s correlation with it. A wooden pavilion designed by Emirati architect AlZaina Lootah and Indian architect Sahil Rattha Singh presents a place of rumination and introspection. An oversized table tennis piece, designed by Iris Ceramica, gives several players the space to play simultaneously.
Saudi architects Meaad Hanafi and Rahaf Al-Muzaini of Sibyl Design Studio are presenting Cycle, a spinning sandboard that reflects on Saudi Arabia’s recent transformation. Mitsubishi Jisho Design from Tokyo will present Arabi-An, a UAE variation of their tea house, constructed from food-waste materials, such as grapes and tea grains. The installation’s structure was inspired by the Miura approach of Origami.
Urban Commissions
Another highlight of Dubai Design Week is the annual design competition, Urban Commissions, which invites fresh takes on outdoor furniture. The winner for this year’s competition is Ahmad Alkattan, a Syrian architect and concept designer whose bio-inclusive spaces take cues from pigeon towers in the region.
The jury panel comprises industry experts, Ahmad Bukhash, Robert Shakespeare and Cyril Zammit.
Exhibitions
The Dubai Design District is going to be the address of several curated exhibitions. These include Rethink by Colab, a material library in Dubai. The exhibition, taking place in a zero-waste modular space, will showcase ways to rethink design and production processes. It will include materials made in the UAE and abroad.
UAE Designer Exhibition, on the other hand, gives emerging and established designers the chance to present eco-conscious products under the theme For Future Living Spaces. London’s Royal College of Art will highlight 20 projects related to sustainability that incorporate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
The d3 Architecture Exhibition, titled Sustainability – Past, Present and Future, will trace the history of development of sustainable architecture in the Gulf. The exhibition is organised by Dubai Design District in collaboration with Riba Gulf Chapter.
Pop-ups and commissions
Pop-ups and commissions will encompass a significant portion of d3 during Dubai Design Week. Urban Hives by Lebanese artist and designer Nathalie Harb in partnership with BMW, will showcase how public hard-surface spaces, such as car parks, can be transformed into lush green areas.
The UNHCR – UN Refugee Agency – will present craftworks created by refugees in Made51.
A commissioned exhibition by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, Portrait of a Lady, brings three Middle Eastern female photographers to reimagine one of Malle’s best-known fragrances.
Maker Space
More than 50 workshops will be offered during the event. The programme, called Maker Space, will cater to developing skills across a range of design disciplines. The workshops are tailored to varying ages and levels of expertise. Highlighted workshops include glass fusing, sustainable packaging design, recycling and reforming and Palestinian motifs.
More information on Dubai Design Week and Downtown Design is available at dubaidesignweek.ae and downtowndesign.com
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
More coverage from the Future Forum
More on Quran memorisation:
The five pillars of Islam
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
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Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
