Dubai Design Week 2022
For the 2022 Dubai Design Week, the city will be immersing itself in various exhibitions, installations, workshops and talks in addition to the much-anticipated Downtown Design Fair.
We’ve put together a guide of the key exhibitions and events to help you navigate your way through Dubai Design Week. See you there!
This year’s theme is “Design with Impact” which is focused on designing a sustainable future. This year, the event features a series of immersive installations that demonstrate innovative design thinking as well as using materials that spark conversations around how design can have a positive impact on the environment.
What to visit:
Event: The Forum
Dates: 9-11 November Location: D3, Waterfront About: Staged in an amphitheater specially designed to promote interaction and engagement by ema, The Forum at Downtown Design will host a series of compelling live interviews and discussions between leading regional and international architects, interior and product designers on each afternoon of the fair.
Fair: Downtown Design
Dates: 8-12 November
Location: D3
About: Downtown Design is the Middle East’s leading design fair for original and high-quality design, showcasing leading international and regional brands and hosting the region’s top-tier buyers: from principal architects and interior designers to the design directors of hotel groups and developers alongside HNW private clients.
Installation: HYPAR
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3 About: Ali Bahmani and Fahimeh Paknejad have created a large paper sculpture in the shape of a Hyperbolic Paraboloid (HYPAR). They created the Hypar surface using computer algorithms and parametric design to calculate each paper module's distance from the hanging mesh. The goal of this piece is to bring attention to the massive amount of paper waste produced by people in offices and around the world, emphasizing just how big of a negative impact this is on the environment.
Exhibition: Mawj
Dates: 10-12 November
Location: UAE Exhibition, D3
About: Mawj is a 3D printed chair designed by MEAN (Middle East Architecture Network) and manufactured by Nagami. Inspired by the waters of the Arabian Sea at the shores of Dubai, the chair investigates the possibilities of robotic 3D printing for designing and producing bespoke furniture. Designed considering comfort, structural stability, and ergonomics, the chair is a prototype for using advanced methods of furniture design and manufacturing.
Exhibition: From the Dunes & Trees
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3, Outside Buildings 10 & 11 Designer: ARDH Collective
About: An installation made from natural and waste resources from the dunes and trees in the United Arab Emirates.It is built using desert sand-based concrete, date-seed-based solid surface material, and the region's first plant-based vegan leather. The space itself is designed to celebrate the Emirates’ remarkable history in building techniques and its deeply rooted culture in the deserts and agricultural landscapes, by envisioning this through sustainable and future-forward materials.
Installation: Home-dreaming Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3, Building 11, Unit 11 – R04
Designer: Ahed Al Kathiri
About: Ahed Al Kathiri’s work proposes a meaning of home that is constructed from within oneself; utilising memories that form an intimate connection to her grandmother’s house.Kathiri uses patterned textiles and layers them into various forms of the Qamariyat (a traditional Yemeni architectural window covering). Her memories of her grandmother sewing domestic objects from recycled fabric make it an intimate act. Using these objects always reinforced and maintained the warmth of home. It is therefore an intimate act of sustainability. Repurposing fabrics in her work is a way of sustaining a home within herself, a reminder that a specific place becomes a home because of how we act within it, and the ways in which we preserve and nourish it.
Exhibition: Vistagram
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3, Outside Building 6 Designer: Apical Reform Studios
About: Through a series of kinetic movements and reflections, this installation changes up and shuffles visuals of the everyday, allowing the audience to see the world differently, with every step displaying a vista of shuffled sights and vibrant views.
Installation: Once Upon A Forest
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3, Between Building 4,5,6 and 7 Designer: OBMI
About: The users are immersed in an exploration of the protection and promise that awaits within the indigenous forest ecosystem. OBMI always seeks to celebrate nature as a place of refuge and inspiration which is why their approach plans for the best long-term outcomes—for the land, the water, and the people.
Exhibition: Dewan Metaverse Dome
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: D3, Atrium 5 Designer: Dewan Architects
About: The Dewan Metaverse Dome will function as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) of invited members who come together to explore ideas and share design information with other members and visitors. The circular form of the dome encourages more engaging discussions with the audience, while also allowing to have an immersive feel of being in the Metaverse through its wraparound screens and the space’s isolation from external distractions.
Installation: The Musical Ring
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: Dubai Design District (d3), Between Building 4 and 6.
Designer: Sharabassy Built Environment Studio About: The Musical Ring combines light displays and music to create aesthetic and audible entertainment. The Ring reflects and refracts light to create lighting effects that are regularly synchronised with music. A ring of lasers, video projection and three-dimensional imagery make this an attractive meeting point, where people can gather to enjoy the music.
Installation: Al Gargoor
Dates: 8-13 November
Location: Dubai Design District (d3), Between Building 5 & 6
Designer: Sara Alrayyes About: Al Gargoor is a creative space made through the up cycling of old fishing nets, either in its native shape or with minimal alterations. This installation aims to educate the next generation about the importance of the fishing culture while preserving Bahrain and the surrounding Gulf countries' unique identities. The project also incorporates traditional palm tree weaving (Sa'af) and naseej textiles, produced and crafted by local Bahrainis.
That completes our guide to Dubai Design Week 2022. We hope to have guided you well through the major events as well as a few of the installations and exhibitions being showcased this year. We hope you get to visit as many of them as possible!