• Floral chair from S*uce: The Dubai-based fashion and lifestyle brand is Downtown Design’s official pop-up partner. Offering a curated collection of contemporary brands and diffusion lines, S*uce offers pieces by up-and-coming designers, including quirky lifestyle items and homewares. This year’s pop-up space is described as a mix of “Marie Antoinette and Bedouin nouveau”, and will offer attendees a range of affordable items, including notebooks, crockery and chairs.
    Floral chair from S*uce: The Dubai-based fashion and lifestyle brand is Downtown Design’s official pop-up partner. Offering a curated collection of contemporary brands and diffusion lines, S*uce offers pieces by up-and-coming designers, including quirky lifestyle items and homewares. This year’s pop-up space is described as a mix of “Marie Antoinette and Bedouin nouveau”, and will offer attendees a range of affordable items, including notebooks, crockery and chairs.
  • Reveal Blue laquered Desk from Theodore Alexander: Theodore Alexander is a maker of fine furniture, offering eclectic, traditional and modern classical furniture and accessories. It’s currently one of the largest furniture manufacturers in South East Asia.
    Reveal Blue laquered Desk from Theodore Alexander: Theodore Alexander is a maker of fine furniture, offering eclectic, traditional and modern classical furniture and accessories. It’s currently one of the largest furniture manufacturers in South East Asia.
  • White lacquered storage units from Montana: Montana is a family-owned company, founded by Peter J Lassen in 1982 and based on the island of Funen in Denmark. It manufactures shelving systems, tables and chairs for the home and office. The Montana shelving system, designed by Lassen himself, is a flexible modular system available in a variety of colours. Every product is crafted at the company’s production site in Funen.
    White lacquered storage units from Montana: Montana is a family-owned company, founded by Peter J Lassen in 1982 and based on the island of Funen in Denmark. It manufactures shelving systems, tables and chairs for the home and office. The Montana shelving system, designed by Lassen himself, is a flexible modular system available in a variety of colours. Every product is crafted at the company’s production site in Funen.
  • Triangles, Bertjan Pot, Diamond Applegreen from Golran: The Persian rug company Golran dates back to 1898 and is currently based in Milan, Italy. Specialising in handwoven carpets, Golran was founded by Hajizadeh Golran, and is currently under the stewardship of Elihau, Elia and Nathan, the fourth generation of the family. At the show, Golran will showcase pieces from its Raw Edges and Carpet Reloaded series, as well as classic silk carpets.
    Triangles, Bertjan Pot, Diamond Applegreen from Golran: The Persian rug company Golran dates back to 1898 and is currently based in Milan, Italy. Specialising in handwoven carpets, Golran was founded by Hajizadeh Golran, and is currently under the stewardship of Elihau, Elia and Nathan, the fourth generation of the family. At the show, Golran will showcase pieces from its Raw Edges and Carpet Reloaded series, as well as classic silk carpets.
  • Parrots, Jakuchu Collection from Sicis: The Italy-headquartered art company Sicis specialises in high-end, custom-made mosaics for wall and floor coverings, furniture, home accessories and jewellery. Founded in 1987 by Leo Placuzzi, Sicis creates all of its products in its facilities in Ravenna and sees mosaics as a means of communication and expression.
    Parrots, Jakuchu Collection from Sicis: The Italy-headquartered art company Sicis specialises in high-end, custom-made mosaics for wall and floor coverings, furniture, home accessories and jewellery. Founded in 1987 by Leo Placuzzi, Sicis creates all of its products in its facilities in Ravenna and sees mosaics as a means of communication and expression.
  • Glory Design from Preciosa Lighting: Based in the Czech Republic, Preciosa Lighting combines Bohemian crystal and an age-old tradition of glass crafting with state-of-the-art technologies. Using skills that date back more than 500 years, Preciosa is one of the few manufacturers in Europe that uses oxygen-fuel technology to help better control and manage the glass preparation process. The company will also be demonstrating how it makes the crystals for its light installations, with a live crystal-cutting session taking place every day of the show.
    Glory Design from Preciosa Lighting: Based in the Czech Republic, Preciosa Lighting combines Bohemian crystal and an age-old tradition of glass crafting with state-of-the-art technologies. Using skills that date back more than 500 years, Preciosa is one of the few manufacturers in Europe that uses oxygen-fuel technology to help better control and manage the glass preparation process. The company will also be demonstrating how it makes the crystals for its light installations, with a live crystal-cutting session taking place every day of the show.
  • Diane from Sahrai: Founded by the siblings Ramine and Rana Sahrai, Sahrai offers customers handcrafted carpets made from high-quality materials such as New Zealand wool, pashmina, linen and silk. Sahrai rugs, which combine the expertise of Oriental carpet weaving with contemporary designs, are entirely handmade, crafted by master weavers in the Sahrai Ateliers in Iran, Nepal and India.
    Diane from Sahrai: Founded by the siblings Ramine and Rana Sahrai, Sahrai offers customers handcrafted carpets made from high-quality materials such as New Zealand wool, pashmina, linen and silk. Sahrai rugs, which combine the expertise of Oriental carpet weaving with contemporary designs, are entirely handmade, crafted by master weavers in the Sahrai Ateliers in Iran, Nepal and India.
  • Silk Leaf from Royal College of Art (RCA): The RCA is a postgraduate school of arts based in London, England. The college will unveil three projects at the show, featuring some of the world’s most-promising new technologies. These include Silk Leaf, a technology that mimics the natural process of photosynthesis, producing oxygen when provided with light and water, which is expected to have far-reaching effects in air purification in urban environments.
    Silk Leaf from Royal College of Art (RCA): The RCA is a postgraduate school of arts based in London, England. The college will unveil three projects at the show, featuring some of the world’s most-promising new technologies. These include Silk Leaf, a technology that mimics the natural process of photosynthesis, producing oxygen when provided with light and water, which is expected to have far-reaching effects in air purification in urban environments.
  • Cherif Morsi, Apotheke. Downtown Design will celebrate the region’s design sector with a section dedicated to talent from six countries. The designers are Arwa Hafiz from Saudi Arabia, Nanu Al-Hamad from Kuwait, Nayef Francis from Lebanon, Cherif Morsi from Egypt, Chacha Atallah from Tunisia and Mohammad Hossein Ghaderi from Iran.
    Cherif Morsi, Apotheke. Downtown Design will celebrate the region’s design sector with a section dedicated to talent from six countries. The designers are Arwa Hafiz from Saudi Arabia, Nanu Al-Hamad from Kuwait, Nayef Francis from Lebanon, Cherif Morsi from Egypt, Chacha Atallah from Tunisia and Mohammad Hossein Ghaderi from Iran.

Downtown Design top 10 picks - in pictures

Olive Obina

October 23, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

After its lauded debut last year, Downtown Design will return to Dubai from October 28 to 31. For 2014, the theme of the fair is “original” – a clear statement of intent from an event committed to championing high-quality, contemporary design in the region. Words by Ashley Lane / The National

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