Good design, for Nada Debs, is about finding an equilibrium between experiments and function, poetry and commerce.
The Lebanese furniture designer is known for blending traditional Middle Eastern craftsmanship with contemporary design.
And as mentor of the UAE Designer Exhibition at this year’s Downtown Design, she is keen on helping the emerging talents translate local identity through craft while keeping them conscious of market realities. It is what will ensure, she says, longevity as a designer.
And the best way to do that is to “pick one thing that becomes associated with yourself", Debs says.
Drawing from local inspirations has always been a hallmark of the UAE Designer Exhibition. A staple of Downtown Design, the annual platform is dedicated to bolstering designers living in the UAE, many of whom are bringing new twists to local materials and traditions.
Several works this year are leaning into that ethos. Ranim AlHalaky is presenting free-standing room dividers that blend palm fronds and wood with lines of metal text containing fragments of poetry and oral storytelling.
A plant-supporting wall system inspired by the UAE’s salt flats, or sabkhas, is being presented by designer group Hala Alkhrishi, Hala Naser, Amira Hisham, Marim Sorbi, Tania Ursomarzo and Iman Ibrahim. Meanwhile, Roudha Alshamsi is taking cues from the patterns winds draw in sand for her luminaire Athar.
Majid Al Bastaki’s Bo Nakh-La is a coffee table inspired by the old steel doors of the UAE. Elisabeth Muculan has conceived of a room installation based on photographs of a traditional Emirati house in Al Shindagha Museum. Shaikha Al Tunaiji’s Al Makabah Collection refers to the cone-shaped Majba, traditionally made from palm fronds and reimagined as boxes to serve dates and sweets.
In short, there is a strong sense of local identity in the exhibition this year.
“All of them have a story to tell,” Debs says. “Over the past few years, the diversity of styles and objects has been really good, and all of them have, at least, a strong concept.
“I love the UAE designers themselves. They are quite strong because they want to push their identity. All of them have touched upon some kind of craft and, as an adviser, I would say push that and make it your identity.”
Idiosyncrasy, she says, is what will help emerging designers stand out. Mining from tradition is one way, but designers can also find themselves through aesthetic means, Debs says, referring to works by Mary Claire Kirwan, who uses discarded objects to make vibrant and bold furniture pieces. Inspiration could also be found in unlikely places, as Nourhan Rahhal, who has made a furniture collection inspired by the French dessert mille-feuille and its stacked layers, demonstrates.
“It’s really cute,” Debs says. “It’s beautiful, the layering, and I would push that more. It’s an idea of mixing ceramics with wood. What else can you do with it?”
Debs says there has never been a more rewarding time to be a designer in the UAE, particularly those making bespoke products for homes. Much of this can be attributed to the country’s new long-term residency programmes, including the golden visa, which have encouraged more people to put down roots.
“A few years ago, furniture was not something that people really cared about,” Debs says. “They were more interested in jewellery, fashion, you know, watches and cars. But now that you have the golden visa and long-term living, it has shifted the mindset. I think people are now much more interested in their home. And they're shifting away from beiges and greys, and are willing to look at furniture as art in a way.”
It is particularly through accent pieces – light fixtures, coffee tables, side tables – that designers can attract attention and express individuality.
“A lot of the pieces in the UAE Designer Exhibition, these are really nice accents. They are an extension of our identity and we love to live with something that looks like us. Furniture mirrors us. It should mirror who we are.”
The exposure the UAE Designer Exhibition can give emerging talents can be life-changing, provided the opportunity is seized with sharp business acumen. To conceive of an effective and captivating design is one thing, but awareness of production costs, marketability and audience reach is what makes or breaks most designers.
“If you really want to design, you need to reach an audience. You need to sell,” Debs says. “It's a terrible side of the business of design, but it's a necessary one. I come from a business family and because of that, I had that background. But a lot of designers don’t have that background. They need guidance.
'Some of the designers don’t know how to structure the company and accounting and shipping and sales and production and all of that. It helps structure the business so that you can actually really focus on design.”
Downtown Design is running between November 5 and 9 at Dubai Design District (d3)
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 6 Huddersfield Town 1
Man City: Agüero (25', 35', 75'), Jesus (31'), Silva (48'), Kongolo (84' og)
Huddersfield: Stankovic (43')
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Zayed Sustainability Prize
