During Dubai Design Week, a diverse line-up of 15 installations and public interventions will provide visitors of d3 with a variation of direct and interactive experiences, exploring cultural aspects of design, architecture and creativity within an open-air setting throughout the week-long event.
During Dubai Design Week, a diverse line-up of 15 installations and public interventions will provide visitors of d3 with a variation of direct and interactive experiences, exploring cultural aspects of design, architecture and creativity within an open-air setting throughout the week-long event.
Responding to this year’s theme of regenerative architecture and restorative design, the festival’s headline commission Abwab has been awarded to Dubai-based Ahmed El-Sharabassy for his proposal titled ‘Nature in Motion’, an architectural pavilion referencing the Dubai desert’s constant motion and emulating the city’s continuous development. The pavilion will host an exhibition titled ‘Pulp Fusion’, curated by Beirut-based architecture and research firm Bits to Atoms and centred around the human impact on the planet.
Other not to be missed highlights include: Marking an entrance to Dubai Design Week in d3, ‘Morphing Nature’, by Kristina Zanic Design Studio for Trend Middle East, will tell a story of sustainability and earth preservation, while ‘The WAW Machine' by Emirati creatives Iman Almidfa and Hessa Ali Alechla behind Wild Arab West (WAW) will greet visitors with positive affirmations and cultural sayings in English and Arabic, through an automated vending machine promoting kindness between people and the world.
‘The Shape of Light’ by conceptual art studio Shuster + Moseley will explore geometric prismatic forms through a large-scale, specially commissioned glass installation and an immersive architectural installation by Ana Carreras for Lever/Mirage, titled ‘Athenaeum’, will illuminate the recent findings of the three-thousand-year-old city of Mleiha.
Spearheaded by Lujain Abulfaraj, a large-scale mural by social movement and learning platform Akwan for MAS Paints titled ‘Kallemni Arabi’ – whichtranslates to ‘speak to me in Arabic’ – will be showcased at the festival as a way to educate the next generation about the importance and preservation of the Arabic language.
Collaborating with Emirati creative Hessa Al Suwaidi, Bentley will unveil a creative concept at Dubai Design Week this year. Al Suwaidi will be given the opportunity to work alongside Bentley’s central design team to draw from the brand’s extraordinary design, technical and craftsmanship skills by creating a bespoke piece which will demonstrate the colliding of two worlds.
'Context Reflections', by ANARCHITECT in collaboration with Cosentino, will invite visitors to discover the intriguing play of penetrated light created via a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in a low-tech installation using carbon-neutral materials and the winning proposal of the annual design competition Urban Commissions, supported by A.R.M. Holding, will unveil a public space intervention of a social space for people to play safely together.
Discover the full line-up of installations and public interventions with the Dubai Design Week 2021 app.