There are different facets to Dubai Design Week, from the sculptural (and often sustainable) public-engaging interventions of the Urban Commissions, to the future-looking, science-loving solutions of final-year students in the Mena Grad Show (part of the now-online Global Grad Show).
Inside Downtown Design, the tent that showcases everything from bespoke designs to kitchen and bathroom appliances, craft is clearly intertwined with retail, as indicated in its tagline “creativity meets commerce”.
Arguably, Dubai Design Week as a whole has evolved from a global platform to one that positions itself as an incubator for regional talent and nowhere has this been more apparent than in the standouts at Downtown Design this year.
Here are 10 highlights:
The Beirut Concept Store
With thousands of pillows stitched from 1950s linen amassed in piles, plus window frames from Beirut’s buildings after its August 4 blast as dividers, The Beirut Concept Store makes a powerful spatial statement.
There seems to be a constant buzz around the disruptive space. Showcasing the work of 50 designers from Lebanon and curated by Mariana Wehbe, it incorporates a dreamy scenography by Rumi Dalle. Highlights include ceramics with edges that take the form of withering petals by Maria Halios, leaflike candleholders by Nathalie Khayat, the crumpled bowls of Souraya Haddad, and the biomorphic table lamps of Zein Daouk emulating open mouths. The textural wall hangings by Adrian Pepe, made of sheep’s wool sourced from the mountainous region of Aarsal, form stunning topographies.
Located at E12
Tanween by Tashkeel
The Tanween collection, comprising works by designers in the UAE, is based on a 12-month professional development programme run by Tashkeel that capitalises on local materials and production processes.
As Downtown Editions, the fair’s section devoted to bespoke design, the Tanween collection boasts outstanding lighting fixtures. Taht Al Ghaf, a gorgeous wall-mounted series of lights by Khawla Mohammed Al Balooshi, is made of electroplated brass and translucent ghaf wood, arranged like concave bark. And the Fattoum floor lamp by studio Muju, an intricate homage to Sadu weaving, stands out with its dramatically patterned yarn lampshade.
Located at E21
UAE Designer Exhibition
Furthering the trend in home-grown design by emerging, locally based talent is the second UAE Designer Exhibition, curated by Lebanese designer Ghassan Salameh.
The works are deeply embedded in their cultural context from Sara Al Harbali’s steel and gold leaf wall sculptures from the Revelation Spectrogram Collection, which transmutes Quranic verse into sound waves to Fabidha Safar Rahman’s Hello, Mars carpet, an abstract representation of enfoldment and cyclicality, partially made of recycled yarn.
Two chair concepts are compelling. The first, Imma/Either Chair in white oak by Saudi architect Habiba Salman offers two seating positions, one with the chair’s legs extended and the other with the back elongated, depending on which side the viewer positions closer to the ground. Equilibrium 1.0 by Rana Salah tests the limits of the seat’s base through a cantilever that levitates the structure. The feeling of sitting on this chair is to be held by the negative space beneath the seat.
Located at C12
Monochrome Study
Perhaps the handcrafted Kimoko & Kinoko coffee table set by Monochrome Study, a design practice in Dubai, installed through the cavity behind a black wall and on mounds of sand, is a bit much. But the concept, to create a table from hard material that evokes the softness of sand or the curvature of dunes, is convincing.
The table has eclectic references. Its edges tapered downward with a single rounded base reference portobello mushrooms - kinoko means mushroom in Japanese, while Kimoki is the name of a South Korean musician (Kim Oki), whose music was playing throughout the design process.
Although everything was handcrafted and inspired by the UAE, the limestone used to make these limited-edition sets comes from Spain and feels like smooth, cold marble.
Located at E23
DesignKraft
Influenced by the abstract sculptures of French-German Dadaist Jean Arp, DesignKraft’s new Hallucinations collection is playfully presented and sources local materials such as fibreglass composites and camel leather. Colourful and experimental, there is a double-figured, bulbous piece with a tray propped on one side, like a waiter serving something or a mother holding a child.
Another double-function work takes the form of conjoined mushroom stalks, one of which is a light, while the other can be used as a table.
Located at E19
Kvadrat
Kvadrat, the Danish textile company, has worked on some strong creative collaborations with local designers. A Softly Winded Chair by Faysal Tabbarah is made from found tree branches, each wrapped in knitted textile, poetically juxtaposing the natural with the synthetic.
The branches, smoothened and scanned to determine their load-bearing capacities, are cushioned, rather than concealed by the fabric.
Hanging behind this innovative seating is the theatrical Blue Velvet Colonnade by Bahraini-Danish, a trio of designers in Bahrain. Draped on the wall, with gold embroidery, it depicts the landscape of A’ali, a town in the Gulf island, in an abstraction of lines and typography.
Located at C10
Artisanale
The collection Reappropriating the Form by Artisanale, a collective of Syrian designers in Dubai, takes the recognisable mother of pearl inlay patterns from Syria, as mirror frames or table tops, while adding colour filters, neon lights, repetition and distortion.
The impact is to create the effect of a digital glitch in material with disjointed pieces of furniture combined. The result is a refreshing – at times kitschy – twist on the traditional.
Located at E08
Nissa
Kazakh designer Nissa Kinzhalina is inspired by the geography of the steppe, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from her aesthetic of clean, minimalist lines, where her studies in Japanese architecture seem more dominant.
The Urban Philosophy chair, for example, is built on a single line. It appears as a polygon when viewed from an angle, while the Dubious Lamp, an arc propped on a base, looks like a sleek weighing scale, which lights up on either side.
Located at C07
Le Lab
Egyptian collector Rasheed Kamel's design gallery, which collaborates with the region’s multidisciplinary artists and architects, is showcasing the graceful Wave seater by renowned Egyptian sculptor Khaled Zaki. Sinuous and evocative of the body of a boat at sea, the undulating piece leaves a lot to the imagination.
Located at E30
Reformia Collection
Reformia is the third capsule collection by the Line Concept, and it is an exercise in asymmetry. They are a furniture design studio in Dubai that makes handcrafted pieces out of wood, marble and antique metals. From lopsided bookcases to unconventional combinations of wood, stone, glass and metals, there is a lot to love, and a poetics of movement.
Located at E26
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
More on animal trafficking
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.