Dubai Design Week kicked off its 11th edition on Wednesday bringing together more than 1,000 designers, architects and creative practitioners from over 50 countries.

Under the patronage of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), and presented in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), part of TECOM Group, and supported by Dubai Culture, the 2025 edition features a dynamic programme of commissions, exhibitions, installations, talks and live events.

Taking place across d3, Dubai Design Week is a catalyst for cross-cultural exchange, spotlighting diverse practices from the region and beyond while connecting them to global audiences. Its multidisciplinary programme spans disciplines including architecture, interiors, furniture, product, graphic and experiential design, acting as a platform for dialogue, experimentation and progress. Set against the backdrop of Dubai’s cultural landscape, it continues to reflect the city’s growing role as a global meeting point for creativity and ideas.

“Dubai Design District is filled with unmatched creative energy, dialogue and ideas this week,” said Khadija Al Bastaki, Senior Vice President of Dubai Design District (d3), part of TECOM Group. “Dubai Design Week offers creatives, brands, and visitors from all over the world unique ways to engage with the ever-evolving design industry and discover new talents and ideas. d3’s strategic partnership with Dubai Design Week is part of our ongoing endeavour to strengthen Dubai’s position as a global cultural and creative hub, in line with the ‘Design Sector Strategy 2033’. We are especially proud that this year sees the unveiling of the winner of the first-ever d3 Awards and organising the fifth edition of d3 Architecture Exhibition, in collaboration with the RIBA’s Gulf Chapter.”

Natasha Carella, Director for Dubai Design Week, commented: “This year’s edition strongly reflects the aim to platform culturally rooted work while fostering cross-cultural exchange on a global level. The curatorial direction builds on a more reflective and human-centred approach that we have been nurturing in recent years, championing collaborations that transcend borders and disciplines, exploring design not only as a practice of innovation but also as a social connector, a civic and cultural force that shapes how we live together, communicate and build systems of care.   In that sense, Dubai Design Week is less about defining a trend and more about reaffirming design’s role as a shared language that can imagine and shape more inclusive and interconnected futures.”

2025 PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

​​DOWNTOWN DESIGN (5-9 November)

Downtown Design, the anchor event of the week and the region’s leading fair for high-quality and contemporary design, has returned to the d3 Waterfront Terrace showcasing the latest collections, innovative products and design solutions, complemented by a programme of pop-up concepts, regional spotlights, talks and panel discussions.

Returning exhibitors include Huda Lighting, Kartell, Kohler, Poltrona Frau, Obegi Home,  Venini and alongside new participants Roche Bobois, Stellar Works and Calico Wallpaper, Porada, Desalto as well as French designer Stéphanie Coutas, and designer-duo Draga & Aurel, presented by Collectional. Regional highlights include BEIT Collective's objects crafted in Lebanon, the debut of 'Strata' by Pakistani designer Yousaf Shabaz, the 'Designed in Saudi' showcase by the Design & Architecture Commission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, Sharjah-based 1971 Design Space’s showcase of material innovation designers Lina Ghaliband Nuhayr Zein, this year’s cohort of the annual Tanween Design Programme by Tashkeel, and the Athath Fellowship by MAKE in Abu Dhabi, debuting at the fair this year.

The UAE Designer Exhibition, supported by Dubai Culture, expands its curatorial vision to focus on mentorship opportunities and increased visibility for emerging UAE-based designers, and Nada Debs features as the headline mentor, providing direct insights to the early-career participants. 

The fair’s immersive environments feature the Solaire Lounge by Veuve Clicquot, an elegant social space for networking and relaxation, and an exclusive lounge from Buccellati designed by david/nicolas, is a refined exploration of craftsmanship and contemporary design.

The Forum at Downtown Design features global and regional thought leaders. Tom Dixon  makes his Dubai-debut with a keynote on material innovation and design evolution, joined by Marcel Wanders, Lee Broom, David Hicks, and regional leaders like Rabah Saeid, Pallavi Dean, and Omar al Gurg.

The Forum space this year is conceived by Lebanese architect and designer Roula Salamoun and reflects her tactile, intuitive approach to combine material experimentation with the exploration of organic forms, often inspired by landscapes and natural morphologies.

EDITIONS (5-9 November)

A highlight of the fair, Editions Art & Design showcases limited-edition art and design from regional and international creators, spanning photography, ceramics, prints and editions, works on paper, contemporary design, and artist multiples.

Editions spotlights the intersection of contemporary design and collecting through a diverse mix of regional and international talent. Highlights include Bureau of Innovation’s global launch of collectible furniture from designers like Corpus Studio, Tim Vranken, and Tom Fereday; Latina Dsgn’s refined presentation of Latin American craftsmanship; and Lebanese-French architect Badih Ghanem’s regional debut, Remember Love?, an installation where raw construction blocks meet polished metallic objects. 

From the region, Asateer reinterprets Emirati heritage for modern living, AASSTTIINN presents sculptural works by Iranian designers, and Wadi Finan Art Gallery brings acclaimed textile and paper works from across the Arab world. Activations during the event include Swiss artist Tobias Gutmann’s Sai Bot, an AI twin creating live algorithmic portraits of visitors; Maseer Collective’s Arabic Sign Language jewellery and workshops marking the UAE’s Year of Community; and the Art Jameel Shop’s curated selection of artist-made prints and design objects.

SPECIAL COMMISSIONS: ABWAB AND URBAN COMMISSIONS

Abwab: Abwab is Dubai Design Week’s highlight programme that supports designers from across West, South and East Asia, as well as the African continent, by commissioning installations or pavilions each year thematically remodelled to reflect relevant global and regional contexts. Since its inception in 2015, Abwab has showcased the work of more than 180 designers.

The 2025 theme, In the Details, explores  Ornamentalism as an aesthetic language of meaning, symbolism and embedded knowledge that has influenced architecture, objects and textiles across cultures. 

The winning project, entitled Stories of the Isle and the Inlet is curated by Bahrain-based architecture and design platform Maraj, founded by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, explores the ecological and cultural layers of Nabih Saleh, a Bahraini island located between Tubli’s wetlands and Sitra’s industrial zone. Combining ornament and oral histories, Stories of the Isle and the Inlet reflects on a disappearing ecology while raising awareness of environmental preservation and cultural memory.

Sourcing materials from Bahrain and working with local artisans, embroiderers and tailors, the work documents the island’s spatial story through a textile enclosure with embroidered depictions of the island’s flora, fauna and surrounding waters of Tubli Bay. Made from layered embroidered mesh textiles inspired by thob al nashil, the installation highlights native species and ecosystems. It builds upon conventional architectural notions of rhythm, composition, and proportion through an ornamental language inspired by the flora and fauna of the water body and land.

Urban Commissions: Urban Commissions, Dubai Design Week’s  annual competition, provides a platform for architects and designers to develop outdoor infrastructure for the public realm. Each edition responds to a specific theme, encouraging proposals that investigate how design can enrich civic life.

For 2025, the theme explores courtyard, a spatial typology rooted in the region yet resonant across many cultures. This year’s winning proposal, When Does a Threshold Become a Courtyard?, by UAE-based design and research studio Some Kind of Practice, founded by Omar Darwish and Abdulla Abbas, draws inspiration from the housh (الحوش), the Emirati courtyard, which unlike the formal courtyards of Egypt, Syria or Saudi Arabia, emerges as a byproduct of necessity; shaped by shifting walls, open thresholds, and the liwan (الليوان), as a transitional space. Grounded in field research from across the Emirates, the installation reflects a logic of assemblage, using local materials and practical craft to create a flexible structure that invites interaction, movement and pause, a contemporary reimagining of the courtyard as communal urban infrastructure. 

The winning proposal was selected by a jury panel of design experts including Dr. Alamira Reem Al Hashimi,Urbanist, Architect and GM of M_39; Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Architect, Curator and Advisor at Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA); Ahmad Bukhash, Chief Architect & Founder of Archidentity; Design Consultant and Advisor Cyril Zammit; and Robert Shakespeare, Group Design Director at Cracknell, specialising in sustainable urban and landscape design.

d3 AWARDS

The new d3 Awards aims to champion emerging talent from the Middle East and North Africa region. 

The inaugural edition of the awards, which is focused on architecture, invited conceptual design proposals that explore community-driven spatial design, prioritising sustainable materials, passive strategies and adaptability across interior, exterior and immersive environments.

The winning designer, Dubai-based Nigerian designer Ohireme Uanzekin, receives a financial prize of AED100,000, an online mentorship session with a jury member or industry expert relevant to their design field and a custom-designed award created by Fahed +Architects, a d-3 based multidisciplinary boutique architectural practice.  

Proposals from the winner and the other four shortlisted applicants are showcased at the d3 Architecture Exhibition throughout the duration of the festival.

INSTALLATIONS AND PAVILIONS

Over 30 large-scale installations have transformed d3 into an open-air gallery of design, where public spaces become interactive works that encourage experimentation and discovery. -TradeArabia News Service