Dubai Design Week 2024

Iraqi architect Ola Znad worked with the Indigenous Ahwari people of southern Iraq’s marshlands to recreate a traditionally crafted mudhif house, woven from reeds that grow in the region’s swamps, spotlighting the intricacy of Ahwari craftsmanship and the naturally sustainable, durable and water-resistant qualities of the material.

The winner of this year’s Urban Commissions initiative, Altqadum celebrated Omani culture with a drumming table that brought together community and live music. The large holes in the studio’s TukTukDum table invite interaction as people are encouraged to step into its centre and join in the drumming with others around the table.

Inspired by the traditional culture of Bedouin tribes, Emirati artist and designer Sarah Al Mansoori reimagines Al Sadu weaving in a contemporary context with a bait al-shaar tent, woven from locally sourced wool and featuring 3D-printed and traditionally engraved wooden elements.

Elsewhere, Coded Lines Collective’s (India) immersive multisensory installation, inspired by Indian stepwells, invited visitors to interact with touch-responsive terracotta ‘tac-tiles’, which triggered a range of sounds, from running water to regional instruments. And a foldable aluminium pavilion by four Saudi architecture students honoured the vaulted iwans – commonly associated with Islamic architecture – with intersecting blocks inspired by muqarnas.

Dubai-based studio Nyxo showcased a robotic unit, in collaboration with Caracol (Italy), that used a non-planar 3D-printing method to create sculptural benches from recycled PLA and olive-waste biopolymer. Elsewhere, a seating installation by Studio Shoo (Armenia/Italy) crafted from recycled refrigerator parts spotlighted the versatility of waste materials in furniture design.

Led by Studioda (Dubai), ReRoot brought together an international multidisciplinary team of designers – Andy Cartier (France), Dalia Hamati (Lebanon/Palestine), Dima Al Srouri (Jordan/UAE) and Rosa Hämäläinen (Finland) – to create a temporary shelter made from mycelium and local palm offcuts. Conceived in response to the ongoing mass displacement in Gaza, the self-assembling modular pavilion is easily repairable. Its component panels can be composted for fertiliser in vegetable gardens to provide food security for refugees.

Elsewhere, studio Deond (Dubai) used parametric design software and recycled cardboard modules to create a shifting display of light and shadow inside its palm-tree-inspired pavilion. Another pavilion, by Emirati architect Abdalla Almulla, uses an innovative cement substitute formulated from construction waste to contrast with its traditional palm-frond roof. Developed by Swiss materials manufacturer Oxara, the alternative binder emits up to 90% less carbon than traditional concrete and presents a novel solution for Dubai’s construction waste.

Celebrating 10 years of her Dubai Design District-based studio, Emirati designer Aljoud Lootah presented a collection of sculptural sofas and tables crafted from rippled glass and stone, inspired by the UAE’s oases and falaj irrigation streams. Meanwhile, a series of 10 hand-sculpted chairs by Dubai-based Kameh integrated Japanese artisanal wood-burning techniques to envision a forest in a desert landscape.

Lebanese interior designer Marine Bustros married her heritage with contemporary aesthetics, creating modular oak tables inlaid with recycled stained-glass birds, stars and suns. And Lebanese-Armenian designer Nareg Krikorian presented an edition of his distinctive Gaar Lounge Chair, upholstered in leather with oversized looped stitching along its edges.

For more on collectible design, see Luxury Living: Aspirational Interior Aesthetics.