Dubai Design Week turns spaces into shared stories

Welcome back to Al-Monitor Dubai.

The emirate’s largest design and architecture festival returns this week, transforming Dubai Design District (d3) into a celebration of creativity for the 11th edition of Dubai Design Week, which focuses on design as an act of care and human connection. We also highlight the 12th edition of Downtown Design, the Gulf’s premier design fair featuring a mix of leading international names and an increasing number of Arab designers. Lastly, we spotlight the first-ever d3 Award to be given to a Dubai-based Nigerian architect this year.

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Happy reading,

Rebecca

P.S. Have feedback or tips on Dubai's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.

1. Leading the week: Dubai Design Week returns for 11th edition

Designlab Experience by Hibah Albakree, Mootassem El Baba and Marwan Maalouf at Dubai Design Week 2025. (Courtesy of Dubai Design Week)

This week marks the 11th edition of Dubai Design Week. With more than 1,000 designers, architects and creative practitioners from over 50 countries, the 2025 edition once again transforms the heart of Dubai with a dynamic program of exhibitions, commissions, installations, workshops and live events.

“This year’s edition looks at design as a social connector and a form of care,” the director of Dubai Design Week, Natasha Carella, told Al-Monitor. “We have been very deliberate about how people feel and interact with design. The festival’s program unfolds by moving through installations that invite visitors to slow down, gather or participate, rather than observe passively.”

Carella highlights #MAJLIS by Doha’s Boo Design Studio and Maryam AlHomaid, which reinterprets the traditional Arab gathering space as a place for dialogue and storytelling. Similarly, Woven Conversations by Emirati design studio AJZAL reimagines the majlis using locally sourced materials to create a space for rest and connection.

“Even our spatial design at d3 (Dubai Design District) this year echoes this idea of open courtyards, shaded thresholds and communal seating that naturally draw people together,” said Carella. 

Among some of the other most anticipated highlights this year is Abwab, Dubai Design Week’s annual special commission that supports designers from across West, South and East Asia, and the African continent. The 2025 winning project, titled “Stories of the Isle and the Inlet,” is by Bahrain-based platform Maraj, which transforms embroidered textiles and oral histories into a textural architectural expression. The piece is inspired by the ecology of Nabih Saleh island and reflects on how craft can recount stories of place, memory and preservation. 

Another highlight is Urban Commissions, the event’s annual competition inviting designers to rethink public space. This year’s winning proposal is “When Does a Threshold Become a Courtyard?” by UAE-based studio Some Kind of Practice. It revisits the courtyard as a shared, fluid space — one shaped by movement, gathering — and exchange, and uses local materials and field research to reinterpret the “housh” (الحوش), the Arabic word for “courtyard,” not as a static structure but as a living system that connects people to one another and to their environments.

“My hope for this year is that it fosters a lasting sense of connection between people, disciplines and generations,” said Carella. “If visitors walk away with a renewed understanding of design as an inherently human pursuit, one that shapes how we live, come together and care for one another, then we will have fulfilled our purpose.”

Date: Nov. 4-9

Location: d3, Dubai Design District

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: TakaHisa

An artfully curated dish at TakaHisa in Dubai. (Courtesy of TakaHisa)

If you love Japanese food, then TakaHisa — known for its fresh, unparalleled ingredients flown in from Japan, and the only Japanese restaurant in Dubai to be featured in the Michelin 2025 Guide — should be on your list. The restaurant’s name combines the first names of the two head chefs: sushi master chef Takashi Namekata and wagyu master chef Hisao Ueda. Choose from tables, booths and counters to enjoy a meal with unforgettable flavors. The restaurant’s omakase experience, where the diner entrusts the chef to create a multicourse meal, is exceptional. Otherwise, definitely opt for the A5 kobe or ozaki beef. The lightly grilled aburi sushi and the omakase sushi platter are also a delight. The prices are steep, but the experience is worth it.  

Location: Banyan Tree Dubai, First Floor, Marsa Dubai, Dubai

Find more information here. 

3. Dubai diary

A rendering of the design of the Forum by Lebanese designer Roula Salamoun. (Courtesy of Roula Salamoun) 

• Downtown Design Returns for 12th edition 

Dubai Design Week’s anchor event, Downtown Design, launched in 2013 and now celebrates its 12th edition. This year it returns to the d3 waterfront and showcases a mix of heritage brands, emerging design and architectural studios, and homegrown products. Leading design brands such as Poltrona Frau, Vita, Kartell and Cosentino return, alongside international names making their debuts such as Porada, Desalto, Buccellati and Roche Bobois. 

A key pillar of the fair remains its support for local and regional designers, including creatives from South Asia. Once again, initiatives such as the UAE Designer Exhibition, MAKE’s Athath Fellowship, and Tashkeel’s Tanween program will spotlight designers based in the UAE.

Underscoring Downtown Design’s ongoing commitment to the region’s creative talent, the fair commissioned Lebanese designer Roula Salamoun to design the 2025 Forum — the fair’s hub for panel discussions and keynotes.

Speaking about the concept, Salamoun told Al-Monitor: “I wanted to work on an approach and a space that would be different from previous years, while still inspired by the local tradition of meeting and conversing — a very communal culture within the emirates.” She added that the region’s landscape and natural environment shaped her approach, and that she wanted the Forum to offer a quiet pause within the fair where visitors could step away, recharge and return refreshed.

Date: Nov. 5-9

Location: d3 Waterfront Terrace, Dubai Design District

Find more information here. 

• ‘What Remains’ by Daniel Arsham 

Perrotin, the renowned Parisian art dealer, has reopened its Dubai space with a solo exhibition by American artist Daniel Arsham titled “What Remains.” Born in 1980, Arsham lives and works in New York and has become known for his work that explores ideas of fictional archaeology through sculpture, architecture, drawing and film. The exhibition, which marks the 24th collaboration between Perrotin and Arsham, features several new works from the artist’s practice, including a new sound installation, sculpture, painting and drawing, exploring themes of cultural memory and the passage of time. 

“It’s my first time showing in Dubai, which gives me the opportunity to show different bodies from my work and different time periods,” Arsham told Al-Monitor. I brought [to Dubai] my hotel room drawings which are studies I have made on hotel room stationary while traveling. They consist of different ideas for sculpture and painting. The newest pieces are the Bonsai sculptures and the sand sculptures— both new opportunities to play with new materials."

Date: Until Jan. 11, 2026

Location: Perrotin, Podium Level, Gate Village Building 5, 05 Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai

Find more information here.

• d3 Architecture Exhibition and the first-ever d3 Awards

The d3 Architecture Exhibition returns to Dubai Design Week with exhibits from leading global firms — including Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Grimshaw and Killa Design — exploring how design can strengthen communities.

Aligned with the UAE’s Year of Community 2025 and in partnership with the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects Gulf Chapter, the d3 Architecture Exhibition highlights the role of the built environment in fostering identity, connection and community. 

Additionally, the inaugural d3 Awards were presented on Nov. 4 in a special ceremony hosted by Dubai Design District during the d3 Architecture Exhibition, honoring young Dubai-based Nigerian architectural designer Ohireme Uanzekin. The Lagos-born architect’s winning design, titled “Abora — The Urban Earthscape,” imagines a network of spaces located within the ground to create a communal living area, highlighting the importance of inclusivity and community-driven spatial design. 

Date: Until Nov. 9, 2025

Location: Atrium of Building 6 at d3

Find more information here.