Dubai Design Week 2024: A Decade of Design & Cultural Impact in the Middle East

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, 12th September 2024: Dubai Design Week, the region’s leading design festival will mark its milestone 10th edition from 5-10 November 2024 under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture, with an outstanding programme of new commissions, exhibitions and events. The region’s first globally recognised design week is held in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), a member of TECOM Group PJSC, and supported by Dubai Culture.

This year’s festival will reflect on a decade of design and its influence on the UAE and GCC’s dynamic and expanding interior design and furniture market, now estimated at USD 26 billion* collectively. The 2024 programme will honour the local community, creative talent and regional design vernacular it has aimed to nurture over the past 10 years, while celebrating the city’s evolution as a global design hub. Dubai Design Week 2024 will bring together over 500 established and emerging designers and brands from more than 40 countries to showcase new design thinking in the form of installations, exhibitions and experiential mediums.

Fueled by rapid urbanisation, a strong real estate market, developments in infrastructure, diversification of the economy and evolving tastes and aesthetic needs of residents, businesses and tourists, Dubai Design Week has matured from its inception in 2015 into a major international design event. Its success can be attributed to its forward–looking programming, a commitment to innovation and support of local talent and its role in shaping Dubai's identity as a thriving global centre for design and creativity in the Middle East. It has become a platform for emerging, pioneering and established designers to showcase their work, connect with industry professionals, and gain exposure in the Middle East and beyond.

Khadija Al Bastaki, Senior Vice President of d3, part of TECOM Group, said: “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 nurturing 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, providing a powerful platform that promotes talent from d3, the UAE and beyond and influences the global design dialogue across subjects like diversity, sustainability and belonging. We look forward to welcoming design stakeholders to celebrate the brilliant creations and ingenuity evident across this year’s programme—including the debut of ‘Editions’ in strategic partnership with d3—shaping the future and resilience of Dubai’s creative economy.”

Natasha Carella, Director for Dubai Design Week, commented: “As we celebrate the 10th edition of Dubai Design Week, we look forward to bringing together designers from across the globe to exchange ideas and demonstrate the positive impact that can be fostered through design. Responding to the complexities of a modern world, sustainable practices and the 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.”

Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts and Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, said: “Design plays a key role in advancing innovation and shaping new possibilities locally, regionally and globally, and is a key pillar of our strategic roadmap. With the emirate being a UNESCO City of Design, Dubai Culture is dedicated to providing an educational ecosystem that cultivates fresh ideas and the many individuals driving them forward. Our responsibility towards the cultural and creative industries in the emirate helps us steer the growth of the creative economy and cement Dubai’s position as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent. Over the past 10 years, Dubai Design Week has served as an annual tribute to the world of design and designers, and we are proud to be continuously supporting such an inspiring initiative.”

2024 PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

DOWNTOWN DESIGN

The anchor event of Dubai Design Week, Downtown Design, will again take place at its home on the d3 Waterfront Terrace from 6-9 November. Acclaimed as the region’s leading fair for contemporary and high-quality design, Downtown Design showcases the latest collections, innovative products and design solutions, complemented by a line-up of creative pop-up concepts, installations and networking events, alongside a line-up of talks, keynotes and masterclasses at The Forum. Downtown Design is the ultimate destination for those seeking the latest trends in interior design, furniture, lighting and home accessories.

INTRODUCING: EDITIONS

A key highlight of this year’s Dubai Design Week is the launch of Editions, the region’s first limited-edition art and design fair, running from 6-9 November. Over 50 galleries, design studios and collectives will exhibit exclusively in the fields of: contemporary design, photography, prints, ceramics and works on paper. Positioned alongside Downtown Design's dynamic programme and offering pieces at a range of prices, Editions paves an alternative route to art and design collecting, opening up the opportunities to a wider audience.

URBAN COMMISSIONS
Dubai Design Week’s annual design competition, Urban Commissions, returns this year with the theme 'Tawila', meaning 'table' in Arabic, inviting designers and architects to propose innovative community furniture that explores the table beyond its form and as a facilitator of exchange, tradition and communal experiences.

This year's winner is Altqadum, a research-based design studio from Oman that specialises in architecture, interior and objects design, led by Marwan Albalushi, Najd Albalushi and Abdulrahim Alkendi. Their Bab Al Salam Mosque in Muscat is one of Time magazine’s ‘World’s Greatest Places 2024’. Taking inspiration from the musical culture of the Gulf, where communities traditionally gather around and accompany musicians, TukTuKDum is an innovative table that encourages interaction, inviting audiences to become performers and even an integral part of the table itself.

The winning proposal was selected by a jury panel of design experts including Dr. Alamira Reem Al Hashimi, urbanist, architect and GM of M_39; Ahmad Bukhash, Director - Urban Planning at Dubai Development Authority and Chief Architect & Founder of Archidentity; design consultant and advisor Cyril Zammit; and Robert Shakespeare, Group Design Director at Cracknell, specialising in sustainable urban and landscape design.

ABWAB

Abwab, meaning 'doors' in Arabic, is a programme that supports designers from the South West Asian and North African (SWANA) region by commissioning installations or pavilions each year thematically remodelled to reflect relevant global and regional contexts. Since its inception in 2015, over 180 designers from countries including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE have participated in Abwab.

For the 2024 edition, practitioners were invited to propose designs with a focus on vernacular architecture and how community-centric architectural methods—rooted in local materials and technique—can intersect with new environments.

INSTALLATIONS
Audiences can expect to engage with over 30 projects that explore ancient technologies, modern innovations and materiality. Dubai-based architectural and interior design studio, Bone will present a pavilion made entirely from pre-fabricated earth blocks in collaboration with Fetdeterra, technical specialists in rammed earth architecture from Spain; Japanese architectural firm, Mitsubishi Jisho Design, will invite audiences to experience a traditional tea-house made from 3Dd printed waste sawdust; tech-driven multidisciplinary practice DEOND, founded by Ross Lovegrove and Ila Colombo, will explore the notion of phy-gital therapy with an AI-infused ‘second skin’ fabric that responds to the body’s state of being; as well as other installations made from various organic and upcycled materials including banana fibre, soybean wax, henna, himalayan salt, terracotta and scrap metal.

EXHIBITIONS AND ACTIVATIONS
Dubai Design Week 2024 will feature a number of curated exhibitions hosted by cultural organisations, educational institutions and design-driven brands including: the 5th edition of the annual UAE Designer Exhibition, supported by Dubai Culture and curated by Omar Al Gurg, showcasing work by emerging UAE-based designers.

Monocle will bring the world of design, culture and business to the heart of Dubai for the month of November, launching at Dubai Design Week; celebrating creativity and craftsmanship with Monocle’s shop and café takeover of FRAME in d3, Art Jameel Shop will offer commissioned products by regional designers, and a dedicated retail space featuring social-impact driven brands including MADE 51, a global brand created by the UNHCR - UN Refugee Agency showcasing artisanal homeware and accessories crafted by refugees, and in addition, Abu Dhabi-based community arts space 421 will present design-led products by local and regional craft makers through their shop Dukkan421.

TALKS, WORKSHOPS AND MASTERCLASSES
Hosted in a dedicated Maker Space, Dubai Design Week’s workshops programme is designed to inspire and elevate skills across design disciplines, catering to professionals and aspiring creatives of all ages, interests and experience levels. The programme is hosted by a range of facilitators including professors of educational institutions, design collectives, independent makers and cultural organisations.

MARKETPLACE
Dubai Design Week’s weekend Marketplace (9-10 November), is a consciously curated outdoor retail experience where visitors can discover the very best of the region’s designers, artisans and homegrown small businesses offering quality and original products. From handcrafted unique goods and sustainably-sourced products to a wide range of food offerings and children’s activities, the Marketplace is located in the heart of d3.