The region’s largest design festival will host its most ambitious and diverse programme to date, bringing together internationally acclaimed and emerging designers to exchange innovative ideas, inspire audiences and present the possibilities of what can be achieved through design.
With more than 500 designers, architects and creative practitioners from over 40 countries, Dubai Design Week will feature thought-provoking installations, exhibitions, talks and workshops that explore topics shaping today's global narratives: from traditional practices and emerging technologies to environmental sustainability and design-led social impact solutions.
The event aims to attract more than 150,000 visitors to d3’s global creative hub, including architects, designers, thought leaders, influencers and public audiences from the region and around the world, further cementing Dubai’s position as the design and creative capital of the Middle East.
Alongside Downtown Design, the highlight event of Dubai Design Week, a key feature of this year’s programme will be large-scale outdoor installations with a focus on how design, science and technology can converge to reclaim materials of our past, as well as reimagine new forms that foster sustainable practices with immersive public interventions made from materials.
More than 20 outdoor installations and architectural projects will be staged throughout d3: From a 3-D-printed architectural pavilion made from biodegradable sugar-based PLA and eco-cooling walls made entirely from loofah to a paper pulp modular system or a prototype of a traditional structural shelter, using sustainable cement alternatives.
Returning to the festival this year, Abwab, the headline commission has been awarded to Emirati architect and founder of MULA design studio, Abdalla Almulla, who will create an architectural pavilion centered around sustainability and materiality, which will include a roster of interventions and performances. Dubai Design Week’s design competition, Urban Commissions, also returns this year with a winning project selected by a jury panel consisting of experts in the design field: Ahmad Bukhash, Robert Shakespeare and Cyril Zammit, to be unveiled at the festival in d3.
Natasha Carella, Programming Director for Dubai Design Week 2023, commented: “Building on the UAE’s Year of Sustainability, this year’s festival has evolved into the most innovative edition of the festival to date. In strategic partnership with d3, our programme has been developed for both the design community and the general public alike. We aim to foster a dialogue around sustainability through engaging and thought provoking initiatives and focus attention on how different practices can converge to look at sustainability, which we see as pivotal for the future of the design industry.”
A series of exhibitions will showcase the latest in design from the region and beyond, throughout the week, including: an Arabic poster exhibition, documenting the Arab world’s visual culture, and a showcase of projects that explore sustainability, design and emerging technologies staged by The Royal College of Art in London.
A line-up of workshops and masterclasses throughout the week will provide visitors of all ages a level of design know-how with a series of hands-on activities and on the weekend (11-12 November), the outdoor Marketplace returns, enabling visitors to discover objects made by the city’s creatives, artisans and small businesses, from handcrafted unique goods to sustainably sourced products.
Dubai Design Week is held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and member of the Dubai Council, in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District, a member of TECOM Group PJSC, and supported by Dubai Culture.