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Design duo Karim Tamerji and Elias El Hage, founders of Karim+Elias, will unveil their latest work, Strata, at the inaugural Downtown Design Riyadh, taking place from May 20-23, 2025.

Downtown Design Riyadh is set to welcome Gallery Collectional to the inaugural fair in Saudi Arabia, 20-23 May.

Held in partnership with the Saudi Arabia Architecture and Design Commission of the Ministry of Culture, Downtown Design the leading fair for contemporary and quality design in the Middle East, will launch Downtown Design Riyadh in May 2025.

Tashkeel has announced the nine designers selected for the highly anticipated 2025 edition of the Tanween Design Programme.

Making a mark at this year’s Maison&Objet, the UAE Design Oasis brought together 15 UAE-based designers to showcase heritage and creativity on an international stage.

The annual meeting point for the creative community and anchor event of Dubai Design Week, Downtown Design is at the centre of design in the region and brings together established and emerging names from the international design scene, featuring the latest collections and innovative solutions by brands and manufacturers from around the world, with a spotlight on rising talent of the region, complemented by a dynamic programme of creative pop-up concepts and networking events, alongside a line-up of talks, keynotes and masterclasses at The Forum.

Taking place 5-10 November in Dubai Design District (d3), with Downtown Design as its anchor event, the festival will bring together over 500 established and emerging designers and brands from more than 40 countries to showcase new design thinking in the form of installations, exhibitions and experiential mediums.

Editions will offer access to a diverse array of editioned works showcased by 50+ galleries, design studios and collectives, exhibiting works exclusively in the fields of prints, contemporary design, photography, ceramics, and works on paper. Offering pieces at a range of price points, Editions will provide a unique opportunity for both cultural enthusiasts and collectors alike, to access a new segment of the art and design market yet to be widely showcased in the region.

Fascinated with manufacturing processes, craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials, Thomas Trad is passionate about responsible and function design.

Dubai-born designer Omar Al Gurg endeavors to blend creativity, community, and functionality in his work, which has garnered some global acclaim. His works aspire to solve practical problems with a thoughtful design ethos.

Global innovative and sustainable surface brand Cosentino have revealed this year’s edition of its Capsule Collection. The series consist of limited-edition pieces crafted by five pioneering practitioners and designers, under the theme “Dare to Play’.

A dynamic fair experience of cutting-edge design, the 2023 edition of the Downtown Design fair reflected Dubai’s ever-growing economy and its strong influence on the region’s burgeoning design industry. With showcases brought by internationally renowned brands and discerning manufacturers as well as studios and individual designers from the region, alongside creative pop-ups and an engaging programme of panel discussions, guided tours and masterclasses, Downtown Design 2023 attracted over 20,000 visitors across the region’s design communities and industries, HNWIs and collectors, as well as design enthusiasts and end consumers.

Presenting the culmination of their design challenge titled ‘Talking Walls: Reimagining the Bathroom Experience,’ the Casa Milano space at the 2023 edition of Downtown Design was a show stopper.

Marking the 10th edition of Downtown Design with an impactful presence, Huda Lighting presents a range of innovative solutions and collections by leaders of the lighting sector.

Titled ‘Carved in the Now’, the stimulating entrance experience designed by AB+ AC Architects welcomed visitors to the anniversary edition of the Downtown Design fair, 8-11 November. The feature incorporated a unique integrated multi-sensorial walk-through installation, showcasing the beauty of mosaic in a new light.

For the first time ever, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will stage a special exhibition at Downtown Design, championing the industrial design works of emerging and established Saudi designers, the first to be designated with the ‘Designed in Saudi’ product seal.

We will be asking all visitors to this year’s Downtown Design fair to pay an entrance fee of AED 25 at the door, which will be fully donated to Emirates Red Crescent. The Art Dubai Group, owner of Downtown Design, will match the total funds raised, including the donations made by our team. Further initiatives will be announced in the coming days.

In line with Downtown Design’s 2023 focus on bringing elements from the great outdoors to indoor, and the necessity of our natural surroundings, the main lounge of the fair will offer a concept unearthed from Veuve Clicquot’s ‘Cellar in the Sea’ project.

Scandinavian design is renowned for its simplicity, functionality, and timelessness. It is characterised by a minimalist aesthetic, clean lines, and a focus on craftsmanship and sustainability. The showcase will feature a variety of brands that embody these values and offer visitors a chance to explore the best of Scandi design.

The free-to-attend umbrella event of the week will host its most diverse programme of events and activities, including exhibitions, new commissions, pop-ups, talks, workshops, as well as other innovative design projects and experiences.

Bringing together creatives and designers from various backgrounds, Downtown Editions features handcrafted products to 3D printed furniture as well as innovative works exploring new materials by individual designers, craftsmen & artisans, creative studios or boutique collectives.

An active member of the UAE creative community, Fatma Al Mahmoud has a unique approach that focuses on introducing cultural aspects through different forms of design, ranging from graphics and products to interiors, interactive design, and new technologies. Beyond curating content, she aims to identify and nurture emerging names in the regional design sector.

The ‘Anatolia’ collective will represent a new Anatolian lifestyle that combines traditional techniques with contemporary and luxury design. The showcase will feature works by various brands including emerging and independent designers that will reflect the unique mix of ancient and modern influences that characterise the region. With a focus on celebrating Anatolia's rich cultural heritage, this unique presentation will showcase the region's innovative design spirit on an international platform.

Dubai is more vibrant than ever. These days, its residents, of which approximately 90 percent are expats, and tourists alike struggle to find parking, get an Uber or taxi, as the city’s streets are packed with people heading out each night to a new high-end restaurant, hotel or opening of a new luxury boutique. The city has made an unprecedented comeback post Covid and a recession in 2020, luring in throngs of visitors and eager city dwellers to its alluring, fast-paced ever-changing beach-lined metropolis.

Celebrating its 10th edition this year, the 2023 fair will bring together a roster of some of the world's most known and established names alongside innovative design studios and craftsmen, making their debuts in the region, providing visitors with a diverse and inspiring array of design from around the world.

Throughout the five-day fair, the wide-spread programming featured presentations from globally renowned galleries, an ambitious talks programme and a dedicated non-for-profit programme featuring Art Dubai’s year-round initiatives.

Now in its tenth edition, Tashkeel is pleased to announce the latest cohort of designers selected for the 2023 design programme includes: Wafa Al Falahi, Marwa Abdelrahim, Maryam Elattar & Mohamed Elnaggar and Chinara Tashmatova.

An annual meeting point for the industry, in its latest edition, the region’s leading fair for original and high-quality design showcased over 250 exhibiting brands, manufacturers and designers from more than 30 countries presenting their works and welcoming more than 21,000 visitors.

Visitors got a chance to discover and access much-anticipated debuts, launches as well as the unveiling of highly sought-after collaborative pieces and works all within the span of the fair. With over 200 brands from around the world present under the same roof, some of the highlighted products and collections showcased include major regional and international names, cross disciplinary collaborations and new brand launches as well as debut collections by emerging creatives and collectives.

Ghotmeh’s Pavilion will be unveiled at Serpentine South in June 2023. This annual pioneering and prestigious commission, which began in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid, has presented structures by some of the biggest names and emerging talents in international architecture.

Celebrating and promoting Dubai as a hub for creativity and innovation, Dubai Design Week is one of the region’s most significant cultural events. The eighth edition took place from 8-13 November 2022, focusing on design for a sustainable future under the theme of ‘Design with Impact’. This theme was integrated into the week’s activities through a range of disciplines including architecture, product design, interiors and multimedia, by both celebrated and up-and-coming international and regional designers.

Held from 9-12 November during Dubai Design Week, Downtown Design presented more than 200 brands, manufacturers and designers from over 30 countries that showcased some of the most stand-out contemporary design complemented by extensive activations, interactive talks and immersive features.

Its ninth edition has opened today in its purpose-built venue in Dubai Design District (d3) overlooking the Dubai Creek and runs until 12 November. The fair, Curated in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), a member of TECOM Group PJSC, and supported by Dubai Culture, aims to support the Dubai economy through its deep connection with the region’s growing and vibrant design community through innovative collaborations with local and international designers, specially commissioned installations and the presentation of some of the world’s leading interior design brands. Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Member of Dubai Council the fair reflects Dubai’s cosmopolitan spirit and vision with an emphasis on commercial opportunities and cross-cultural exchange and dialogue. The fair is the commercial highlight event of Dubai Design Week, which runs until 13 November.

Downtown Design offers a platform for dialogue, debate and cross-cultural exchange, all of which can be found again this year at The Forum, supported by Aritco, at the fair, which hosts an annual series of live interviews and discussions between regional and international architectures, interior and product designers taking place each afternoon of the fair.

What if you had a story to tell but no one to tell it to? What if you had a joke to crack, but no one around one to laugh at it? If you had a question to ask, but no one there to answer, or a secret to share, but no one to whisper it to? These are questions that evoked Kapil Bhimekar's interactive installation ‘I hear you’, an immersive installation that carries sound and emphasizes the need for community and communication, offline. In a world where interaction happens through emojis, LOLs and OMGs, ticks turning blue and wordless "reactions", ‘I hear you’ is a reminder of the human desire to be heard and an invitation to share our love, anger, admiration, frustration.

Downtown Design offers a platform for dialogue, debate and cross-cultural exchange, all of which can be found again as part of the talks programme this year, at The Forum 2022, supported by Aritco.

In a pop-up by Sharjah Architecture Triennale titled ‘Re-Store’, visitors to Downtown Design can explore a range of functional products made with recycled materials by local and regional designers, such as Guillaume Crédoz (Bits to Atoms), Mohamed Rowaizak and Nour Kayswhile; TRAME Paris will offer access to affordable, limited-edition works by some of the most sought after designers on the international stage, from Arthur Mamou-Mani to Amandine David. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, Isola Design will stage a pop-up exhibition of unique pieces inspired by architecture and craftsmanship, featuring over 10 international designers, including names such as Nayef Francis Design Studio.

Known widely as a musician, in 2008, while studying architecture at the American University of Beirut, he started the band Mashrou’ Leila with a group of fellow students. It’s enjoyed huge success, collaborating with the likes of composer Brian Eno and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Gerges continued his architectural explorations in parallel, officially launching his own studio in 2020.

Dubai Design Week returns to Dubai Design District (d3) for its eighth season, taking place 8 - 13 November 2022, providing individuals and companies with a platform to showcase their design experience and thinking by ways of installations, exhibitions, and overall experiential mediums. This year’s theme is Design with Impact; focusing on design and innovation for a more sustainable future. Visitors can look forward to over 20+ large-scale installations - developed by world-renowned architecture firms, acclaimed design studios, luxury brands and rising regional talent - that transcend technology and sustainability with features such as a two-storey interactive QR code structure and a bamboo and mangrove-made pavilion that acts as an oversized wind chime. These will be accompanied by a wide range of talks and workshops, exhibitions focusing on the future of design - including an interactive exhibition that pushes the boundaries of design through Web 3 technology – also returning is the UAE Designer Exhibition, supported by Dubai Culture, that will once again highlight work from some of the most exciting locally based designers within Downtown Design. Visit www.dubaidesignweek.ae for the latest updates and information.

Revered Lebanese designer Nada Debs, known for her design objects featuring a unique blend of oriental and Arab motifs is showcasing her eponymous brand for the first time in Downtown Design, offering once again an exciting showcase for regional and international designers. For Debs, who recently set up her second base in Dubai and who divides her time between the Gulf megapolis and Beirut, participating at Downtown Design offers her the opportunity to present her brand to a new cohort of collectors, buyers, procurement teams and design enthusiasts. “Our participation marks the brand’s first proper step into Dubai,” says Debs. “We want to use Dubai as a base to celebrate our 20 years. It’s a city that has supported me since I began.” Debs’ design label is a high-end luxury brand featuring highly crafted furniture. “We are also a lifestyle brand that is socially conscious, sustainable in the way that our approach creates a timeless, quality product that stands the test of time,” she adds. “We work mainly in customized furniture”, providing her clients, mainly interior architects and architects, with specially crafted, one-of-a-kind pieces. Debs is also celebrating 20 years of her design company, which she launched in 2001. At the time, she had lived in Beirut for just one year, having grown up in Japan with her family and attending the Rhode Island School of Design. After she graduated, she moved to London and there began making furniture for herself.

Another highlight at this year’s Downtown Design will be the attendance of acclaimed Florentine designer Duccio Maria Gambi who will be unveiling his ‘Tempore’ collection for cc-tapis, presented by Iwan Maktabi, at the fair The collection, which features an alluring design and colour scheme, explores the relationship between the natural and the artificial. 'Tempore' is a Latin term denoting a temporary or provisional period. Gambi’s creative process for the collection of hand-knotted rugs made of Himalayan wool is meant to evoke the temporality of time, with each rug evoking a specific interval of time captured visually as the anatomy of each piece emerges and dissolves. “I named the collection Tempore because I felt it was important to link it to time, to set and define these shapes as a frame frozen and stopped in between what came before and what will happen next,” he explains. “I think that you can have the feeling that something, a shape, was there before and something is happening to give you the results you see in front of you.” Gambi was inspired by the graphic structure that was generated by oil pastels and the ballpoint pen. Where the pastel stimulates a free, wild, and imprecise line, the ballpoint pen pushes towards a more precise, continuous, and rational one. Gambi loves combining such contrasts and opposing entities into four dimensions. Through his designs, Gambi explores the relationship between the natural and the artificial. Before opening his studio and workshop in Paris in 2012, he received a strong theoretical background during his studies in the Radical Design Movement in Florence and his years while studying in Milan. His work has long focused on concrete casting and experimentation and spans bespoke furniture pieces for private clients to research-led one-off designs for design galleries and fashion brands. At the heart of Gambi’s work is visual experimentation. This is found also in the Tempore collection through the coupling of seemingly contrasting elements. His series of rugs features hand-knotted, Himalayan wool rugs replicating drawings with oil pastels and ballpoint pens, a combination of precision and freedom. The resulting creations offer a play of contrasts, colours, and lines, coexisting on the knotted structures in multiple dimensions. “In my works, there is always a constant element a contrast between parts, each of which acts as a background and frame for the other, and these various parts then interact with each other,” explains Gambi. “Quite often the artificial, man-made gesture, serves as a descriptive element for the natural one.” Gambi says he has always been “attracted by contexts where geometry, repetition, clean and visually closed elements are inserted into heterogeneous and lively dynamic natural environments.” Through his work, he loves to find ways where time and nature intersect whether it be through an artificial land, an abandoned building, or a ruin.

We are living today in a world where collaboration is key to technological and artistic innovation. In the design world, this could not be more apparent. Whether it is cultural cross-pollination, a sharing of resources, artistic creation or sustainable collaboration, designers and creatives are increasingly working together to make designs that are at once aesthetically appealing, beautiful and good for the environment. At this year’s Downtown Design, visitors can find a range of collaborations by some of the world’s most esteemed and sought-after creatives. These include collaborations between Illulian, the historic and prestigious 60-year-old Italian rug manufacturer and Zaha Hadid Architects, Paola Navone and Arik Levy among others, on specially designed hand-made carpets.

Taking place 9-12 November, the fair will once again feature large-scale showcases of national presentations alongside a wide array of brands, manufacturers, studios and individual designers from around the world who each year choose to enhance their visibility at the region’s leading design event. This year, the fair will see the return of the country pavilions from leading design centres France, Italy and Spain among others, and will welcome back a range of internationally renowned brands such as Minotti presented by Aati, Cosentino who is producing a creative concept alongside award-winning carpet makers Jaipur Rugs and THG Paris. Newcomers to the fair this year include Fritz Hansen, the Danish design house globally characterized by world-famous classics; Studio Nada Debs that will present a showcase celebrating 20 years of craftsmanship; innovative lighting brand Slamp, showcasing iconic collections including designs by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA); pioneers in the field of architectural lighting, Lutron; unique Italian luxury furniture manufacturer, Philipp Selva; and Huda Lighting who will stage an immersive, multi-brand exhibit. In addition, there will be a number of creative designer collaborations exhibited at the fair, including cc-tapis’ world-premiere of the ’COURSE’ wall-hanging as part of their collection with Duccio Maria Gambi, presented by Iwan Maktabi, the award-winning ‘Liquid’ collection by Tom Dixon for VitrA, and RAK Ceramics return with new pieces to their range with ELIE SAAB, following their debut at Downtown Design in November 2021. The ever-popular Downtown Editions, will this year offer consumers and trade alike an exciting line-up of design galleries and collectives, individual designers and studios who will each present exhibitions of limited-edition works. Read more about the Downtown Editions highlights for this year here. The full 2022 exhibitor list and the line-up of creative concepts and installations will be announced on 1 October.

One aspect of design that consistently woes collectors of art, design and other luxury items, are limited-edition and bespoke pieces that are one-of-a-kind in creation, material and vision. To that end, Downtown Design, the Middle East’s leading design fair presents Downtown Editions, the fair’s boutique showcase of specially made, limited-edition pieces. As the region’s design scene continues to grow and creatives flock to Dubai from around the Middle East and beyond, This year’s Downtown Editions offers an exciting platform for brands, design galleries and collectives from the region and beyond to present their work and interact with buyers, procurement teams and the press attending the fair. The section, staged alongside established international brands in the main fair, features a broad range of design, from high-end manufactured furniture and handmade limited-edition objects to brand launches and designer collaborations. This year includes an international spectrum of designers from the Middle East and beyond. Individual presentations will be complemented by a range of presentations uncovering the latest in design from around the world. These include Parisian design gallery Anne Jacquemin Sablon which will bring pieces by interior designer Tristan Auer, known for his emotional interiors that mix inspiration from the baroque and contemporary periods, among others; Lebanon’s House of Today, a non-profit dedicated to supporting Lebanese design and craft, which will be showcasing works by Lebanese creatives Stephanie Moussallem and Roula Salamoun, among others; the latest collection of Dubai-based Syrian brand ARE; Kuwaiti Studio Meshary AlNassar known for his vintage-inspired contemporary pieces; Egyptian design studio R’kan that produces high-end furniture in collaboration with designers and artists; 20C GALLERY, a design gallery from China presenting designer Jingjing Naihan Li who re-imagines furniture as not simply functional, but modular and mobile and Australian multidisciplinary designer and artist Edward Linacre. Hailing from the African continent is a curated selection of collectible design and craft pieces in a dedicated exhibit by Uganda Crafts Council. Once again local Dubai homegrown brands will be present and these include Klekktic, a modern customizable high-end furniture; The Line Concept, offering custom-made furniture based on the needs of clients, produced by hand in the company’s workshop and MODU Method, both playful and pragmatic label of Emirati designer Omar Al Gurg featuring an independent house of products inspired by pieces he’s collected, lived with and have been passed on to him across generations. Shedding a spotlight on some of the most renowned Jordanian designers and collectives will be The Workshop Dubai, a local multi-concept space presenting works by; Kutleh, Twelve Degrees, Karim Sawalha and Omar Sartawi, Yacob Sughair, Suliman Innab. Downtown Editions has served as an instrumental platform for designers to gain visibility and engage with international and regional buyers and collectors. This year, the platform will feature works from around the globe —an aspect that reflects Dubai's increasingly cosmopolitan and international character. To find out more about Downtown Editions and how to participate, click here.