Scan the duty-free section at Incheon Airport, and you'll see multipacks of K-beauty products nearing scarcity. The boom in Korean skincare shows no signs of waning, nor does the face-mask routine after take-off. Now, Etihad Airways is giving business-class travellers (and the skincare-obsessed) another reason to look forward to boarding by partnering with Seoul-based powerhouse Laneige (becoming the first to do so) for a new range of premium amenity kits.

The hottest business-class upgrade? Better skin

From 15 June 2026, the UAE flag carrier will start rolling out a series of 14 collectable designs inspired by cities across its rapidly expanding global network. Seven designs will debut initially, representing Abu Dhabi, Krabi, Mumbai, Lisbon, Addis Ababa, Calgary and Atlanta, with additional cities set to join the collection over time.

Available in two styles – Pouch and Slim – each bag features its corresponding city name and geographic coordinates embossed, alongside bespoke artwork in the lining inspired by the location. Inside, guests will find a selection of hydration-focused essentials from the Laneige Wonder range, including the bestselling Water Sleeping Mask, Lip Sleeping Mask and a nourishing hand cream – all chosen to combat the drying effects of long-haul travel and soothe skin while sleeping.

‘It’s an effortless, sensorial journey where skin barrier science supports recovery, comfort, and energy throughout the flight,’ says PilKyung Choi, brand president of Laneige.

Bags are loaded on board at random, meaning passengers may receive a different destination with every flight. The launch builds on the popularity of Etihad’s limited-edition Finjans (traditional Arabic coffee cups gifted to First Class guests) and forms part of its wider wellbeing strategy, which has already introduced initiatives such as its Quiet Cabin concept.

‘By uniting Laneige’s skin-barrier science with recovery-focused care for travel-stressed, jet-lagged skin, we are creating an effortless, sensorial experience designed to support comfort and energy at altitude. It is skincare you feel, lightweight and intuitive, powered by science,’ adds Choi.

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Syrian-born, UAE-raised artist and designer Talin Hazbar was around ten years old when she began collecting an informal ‘materials library', picking up stones and other objects from within the citadel in Aleppo when visiting her grandmother. Her amassing in earnest began while she was studying architecture at the American University of Sharjah, gathering sand from across the UAE and beyond to experiment with mould-making. Many of these materials and tests now line the shelves of her studio in Sharjah Art Foundation’s Al Hamriyah complex, including pieces of calcified fishing nets and coral from the sea just beyond its walls.

‘I'm fascinated by how materials behave and the forces that influence how they decay, accumulate and change shape,' says the artist, whose installations and designs have been exhibited everywhere from the Louvre Abu Dhabi to the NGV Triennial in Melbourne. In her eyes, every mark and fissure in a rock is like a scar, revealing something about shifts in weather patterns, ecologies and social history. These materials can also carry the weight of cultural memory.

In the studio with Talin Hazbar

When we speak, her studio is filled with the components of her installation for the ‘Arab Design Now’ exhibition that will be part of the Design Doha Biennial (postponed from April to November 2026): an abstract tribute to the bah-rah, a fountain at the centre of social and domestic life in the traditional Syrian home. Instead of one fountain, however, Hazbar has used stones from the Levant to create a totem of interlocking fountains, their geometry and patterns appearing familiar yet strange.

‘It questions what happens when such enduring structures, once central to domestic and communal life, are no longer at the heart of a courtyard,' she says. The work, At the center, water gathers what the city remembers, reflects on the memories we attach to materials and built forms, without veering into nostalgia. ‘It's an invitation to imagine fragments, not as broken, but as evolving.'

For the curator of the exhibition, Noura Al Sayeh Holtrop, it is this dialogue between different times and traditions that stands out: ‘Talin's singular artistic approach combines the historical and the contemporary, drawing from her Syrian heritage. She has created a new ornamental language made from a collage of existing typologies.'

Despite studying architecture, Hazbar was always more captivated by what buildings are made from, and what that reveals about social history and the landscape, than in designing structures herself. ‘I was interested in vernacular architecture, and how it was born out of need and context,' she adds.

Her 2022 work Earth Readings in Alula, Saudi Arabia paid homage to the tradition of building with adobe in the region. She asked local residents to tell her about a space that was meaningful to them, collecting earth and rocks from the site before building two walls of 1,360 mud bricks within a palm grove. As the passageway between the walls narrowed, you could hear the participants' stories, bringing the desert oasis to life. The bricks were later strewn across the floor at 2024’s Art Basel Paris, in a nod to how mud can be endlessly reshaped and remoulded.

Many of her early works, however, were made from sand – a material she continually returns to because ‘it sits somewhere between a solid and liquid state', and it has a rebellious streak. ‘Its behaviour always surprises me,' she says. Hazbar used different binders to ‘freeze' the sand in moulds, creating everything from lighting installations to domed sculptures.

‘I became intrigued with working with sand to understand the landscape, but also to see how it responded in the studio,' she says. Hazbar began talking to archaeologists and noticed a connection with their process. ‘It felt very close because my work is about excavating and giving space for uncertainty. I have to create my own system to navigate through a site sensitively and without definite answers. And there's a strong sense of time embedded in the work.'

From here, she began developing what she calls ‘structures of impermanence', an ongoing body of work exploring ‘temporality' through forms and materials. In July 2026, she will exhibit a new take on one of these pieces, Resting Grounds, at the Le Végétal art fair in France. First shown in Abu Dhabi in 2025, it's an undulating landscape of encrusted sand, precariously held up by pins, that resembles human skin. Hazbar calls it a metaphor for the intimacy and fragility of the relationship between land and body. ‘It proposes art as a practice of excavation and care, attuned to the fragile entanglements of nature and time.'

The artist approaches the sea through the same archaeological lens. In 2017, she was collecting sand on the beach when a fishing net clogged with accumulated shells, salt and organic matter caught her eye. ‘I became intrigued by how organisms colonise nets,' she says, so she started talking to a local fisherman and later marine scientists at the American University of Sharjah and NYU Abu Dhabi to see how they document these organisms' growth. With the help of fishermen, she submerged three traditional dome-shaped gargour fishing baskets, letting crustaceans, molluscs, algae and other sea life gather on their forms over six months. Each piece of her resulting work Deposits mapped the specific growing conditions and species of the location where it was submerged.

Hazbar cast a further glow on it with her ethereal Accretions lights. She submerged hand-forged steel armatures inspired by deformed gargour lost at sea, allowing marine life to finish their form. These ornate yet delicate structures suggested a new path for design made in collaboration with nature.

Sharjah's bustling port, a short walk from Hazbar’s studio, is a place she constantly revisits. It has inspired Sediments, her ongoing series charting the importance of marine ecosystems to local communities and how changes along the coastline have affected them. With fishermen and divers, she collects ghost fishing nets before compressing them into slabs. ‘Each slab is a record of the time the materials have been left at sea,' she says.

Now she is ‘exerting a little more control' over the results by sorting the nets into colours and creating modular, collectable pieces with them – their swirling, colourful textures reading like marble. ‘The divers are excited because it creates more awareness of what's lost at sea,' says Hazbar, who hopes the work will support their cleaning efforts.

Notions of time are a mainstay of her practice and a shared interest with her sister, Tulip, a graphic designer and illustrator, who is a frequent collaborator. Their Abacus 52, a counting frame made of marble and stone fragments, speaks of acts of collecting and record-keeping in daily life. Tulip is an ‘archivist/hoarder' of print material, music and film clips from Syria and the UAE. For Design Doha, she is dipping into her collection to create an audio accompaniment to Talin's installation.

As Al Sayeh Holtrop says, ‘it reflects the oral transmission of knowledge that is central to Arab culture'. The sounds will add a haunting beauty to the installation, while bringing the past emphatically into the present.

Le Végétal runs 3-6 July 2026 at Hôtel Présent, Arles, France. Design Doha Biennial runs 3-7 November 2026

This article appears in the June 2026 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available from 7 May in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Over the past decade, the UAE has worked hard to cultivate and support a homegrown design culture – an ambition reflected in the newly unveiled Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, where interiors led by Agata Kurzela Studio bring together Emirati designers, makers and artists whose work is woven into the museum’s spatial identity.

Designed by Foster + Partners, the museum sits at the centre of the Saadiyat Cultural District and is dedicated to the life and legacy of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, known as the Father of the Nation for his role in forming the United Arab Emirates. Its sculptural roof structures, inspired by the wing of a falcon in flight, rise above a series of galleries, public spaces and research facilities intended to tell the story of the nation’s history, culture and environment.

Dubai-based design firm Agata Kurzela Studio was tasked with shaping a constellation of interiors within this monumental building, including majlis meeting rooms, hospitality areas, a public atrium and a research library. Kurzela, a Polish-born architect and interior designer who founded her practice in 2020, has worked extensively across the region, building a reputation for creating quietly dramatic interiors that combine a restrained palette with unexpected sometimes subversive material choices – the chain curtain she used to enclose a prayer room within her design for an Emirati government bureau in Abu Dhabi is just one example.

At the Zayed National Museum, she takes a similarly nuanced approach, adding depth to a sand-coloured palette with tactile local materials including wool, rope, ceramic, camel leather and metal.

Across the project, Kurzela assembled a group of Emirati designers and artists whose work helps shape each space. Furniture by designers including Aljoud Lootah, known for her ability to reinterpret traditional forms into new contexts, and Omar Al Gurg, founder of Dubai-based design studio Modu Method, sits alongside pieces by Emirati visual artist Latifa Saeed and Emirati architect Abdalla Al Mulla. Lighting by local design brand Khalid Shafar, designer Alya Al Ghefeli and interior architect Roudha Al Shamsi adds further layers, while textiles and carpets reference regional craft traditions.

Several spaces take their cues from the Al Durour calendar, a traditional Emirati system that divides the year into seasonal phases. Meeting rooms and majlises ('majlis' is an Arabic term meaning ‘sitting room’) translate these shifts into colour, texture and atmosphere, creating a design language loosely rooted in the rhythms of desert climate.

The result is an interior landscape in which cultural references are not presented as artefacts behind glass, but embedded within the spaces themselves – in the materials, objects and collaborations that shape how the museum is experienced.

What started as part of Dubai’s masterplan to position itself as a global luxury destination has evolved into one of the Middle East’s most recognisable hospitality brands. Long defined by the landmark Burj Al Arab, a self-proclaimed seven-star hotel set on a man-made island off Jumeirah beach, the Jumeirah group built its identity on creating architecturally distinct hotels that have become global symbols for Dubai itself. Today, this legacy still shapes the brand, but the opening of Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab marks the start of a new chapter of considered restraint.

Wallpaper* checks into Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai

What’s on your doorstep?

Set between Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Burj Al Arab, the hotel is part of Jumeirah’s original beachfront cluster of resorts, sitting at the southern end of the stretch, where the shoreline meets the city. From here, neighbouring Jumeirah hotels are easily reached by foot or golf buggy, linking Marsa Al Arab to a wide mix of restaurants, beach clubs, spas and leisure facilities spread across the complex.

Beyond this, the hotel is located within one of Dubai’s most established residential neighbourhoods, defined by low-rise villas, local cafés and everyday city life. The galleries of Alserkal Avenue and the Mall of the Emirates are both a short drive away, while Downtown Dubai and the Dubai Mall are also within easy reach, keeping the hotel connected to the wider city.

Who is behind the design?

In keeping with the Burj’s sail silhouette and the sweeping wave-like profile of Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Marsa Al Arab completes the beachfront trio with architecture by local practice Killa Design, who took its cues from the streamlined geometry of a superyacht with horizontal lines and curved balconies that emphasise fluidity and give the building the appearance of a vessel sitting on the water. A large arch is set into the base of the building to form the porte-cochère, supporting multiple floors above and framing views back towards the Burj Al Arab.

Inside, the sense of scale is softened, most notably in the lobby, which unfolds through a series of smaller, loosely connected spaces, encouraging informal gatherings over a pot of tea or a glass of champagne. Paris-based Trustan Auer worked together with Wilson Associates to set a sophisticated tone across the hotel, drawing lightly from the nautical theme with soft neutrals and burnt orange accents alongside warm lacquered woods and marble finishes. Elsewhere, various restaurants, including The Fore and Rialto, are the work of AvrOko who injected their signature soul with rich materials and considered lighting into spaces that smartly unfold over a series of zones.

The room to book

Some say that the city-facing rooms are the ones to book, looking inland across Jumeirah’s low-rise neighbourhoods and a shore shaped by early fishing communities. For pure Dubai spectacle, however, check into a room overlooking the Burj Al Arab and the crescent of Jumeirah Beach. All the all rooms are kitted out to the highest standard with spacious walk-in wardrobes and minibars stuffed with luxury treats like the pistachio-kunafa bar from Fix Dessert Chocolatier, but the standout is the Ocean Deluxe Suite, not just for its round-the-clock butler service, but for the sweeping balcony that runs the length of the living room, bedroom and bathroom – complete with a freestanding tub – perfectly positioned for a glass of champagne and sunset views over the glistening Arabian Sea.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Home to no fewer than 11 restaurants and bars, the hotel’s dining scene is arranged across the ground floor in clearly defined zones. Highlights include Bombay Club, serving classics such as butter chicken and naan fresh from the tandoor, and Rialto, which is the spot to be during white truffle season. After dinner, a discreet gin room opens into Rialto Bar, where a rare green marble counter makes the best perch for a Negroni. Elsewhere, Iliana offers a lighter, breezy option, perfect for long lunches with sea views.

Where to switch off

Marsa Al Arab is a remarkably serene escape in its own right, helped by its beachfront setting and generous spread of outdoor pools, which includes an adults-only spot and the Iliana Pool Club – available only for suite guests – with its collection of private cabanas. Wellness is centred around Talise, a sprawling three-level space unfolding with a gym, a standout indoor pool, and a full suite of treatment rooms and facilities all oriented towards the hotel’s signature views. Rounding things out is Limoz Logli, the eponymous salon from the London-based hair connoisseur, whose bespoke colour transformations will leave you feeling polished with effortless sun-kissed-ready hair.

The verdict

Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab marks a new chapter in Dubai hospitality, delivering the scale, polish and sense of occasion the city is known for, but tempered with restraint and understated elegance. While Jumeirah has long been an international name, this opening moves the brand into the global spotlight with an assured and confident offering.

Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab is located at Jumeirah St, Umm Suqeim 3, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Book now.

The Zayed National Museum's five-falcon wing-shaped lightweight steel towers in Abu Dhabi rise prominently and confidently towards the skies as if they are about to take flight. The movement embodied in the design of the towers, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, is symbolic of the strength, courage, determination and pride of the falcon, the national emblem of the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf nation which celebrated its 54 years as a country since it was united and founded by late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1971.

To mark the occasion, after around 15 years of construction, the Zayed National Museum has opened to the public on 3 December, a day after the UAE’s National Day.

Inside the brand new Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Zayed loved falconry and viewed it as a vital part of Arabian heritage and a means to connect with nature and his local Arabian Bedouin culture. The Zayed National Museum strives to do exactly this – celebrate Sheikh Zayed’s legacy while preserving the emirate of Abu Dhabi’s rich past, its connection with the land, local culture and ardent stride towards the future.

The architecture of the museum is another example of the mastery of Lord Foster. The towers also act as thermal chimneys, part of a sustainable cooling system to draw cool air into the galleries below.

'At the time of the commission, the site was completely undeveloped; it was really the desert,' said Lord Foster. 'Before you had cheap energy, you worked with nature, with the elements, and this is very much in accord with the vision and passion of Sheikh Zayed of greening the desert, creating gardens, and working with nature.'

Lord Foster notes how his firm created an 'environmental system,' with the building leveraging 'thermal mass,' he notes, through its buried, mound-like structure. It goes back to ideas of traditional desert architecture, says Lord Foster and is dug into the earth to take advantage of the ground’s insulating properties and cooler temperatures.

Traditional Arabian design elements blend with modern design throughout the structure. For instance, traditional desert architecture often uses light and shadow to control heat. The Zayed Museum incorporates subtly placed openings to capture and emanate sunlight into the interior spaces.

Beneath them, the museum’s multifaceted concrete structure offers an immersive journey spanning Abu Dhabi’s ancient history to the present day. The museum has six permanent galleries positioned across two floors containing artefacts from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages found across the Emirate. A separate gallery serves for temporary exhibitions. The collection includes over 3,000 pieces, of which 1,500 will be on display, each meticulously chosen for the stories they relay about the land and its people.

The museum is situated in the Saadiyat Cultural District on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, positioned. Before entry into the museum, visitors will encounter a 600-meter-long path called Al Masar Garden, an outdoor verdant gallery featuring native plants and trees representative of the desert, oasis and urban environments of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Stretching from the coast of Saadiyat Island and located between the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the newly opened Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi to the entrance of Zayed National Museum, the garden features a working falaj irrigation system, the ancient, gravity-powered method for irrigation used particularly in the UAE and Oman and contemporary sculptures, reflecting the life and vision of Sheikh Zayed and the history of the UAE.

'I think the idea of growing a garden from the coast through the desert to the oasis is a symbolic element of the building,' adds Lord Foster, emphasising how the museum metaphorically reflects 'the idea of arriving at the oasis. The building serves as a container for the memorabilia and the story of the Emirates, which is an important story for younger generations and those visiting [Abu Dhabi] who would have had no idea of the roots of the Emirates and the vision of this extraordinary individual so pivotal to its founding.'

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For anyone who passed through the old Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport over the last forty years, Nomad Abu Dhabi is a sentimental experience (sometimes even a shock), says Nomad founder Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte. Set inside Paul Andreu’s iconic 1982 terminal, revived after its closure in 2023, the first Abu Dhabi edition of Nomad (19–22 November 2025) transforms this modernist landmark into an immersive setting for collectible design, contemporary art, and jewellery.

'It’s one of our most iconic locations,' Bellavance-Lecompte notes. 'It combines mobility and architecture, reflecting our mission to revive the essence of significant buildings, reconsider their function, to integrate galleries in ways that let these spaces tell new stories and move forward.'

The journey begins in the hall that has witnessed countless farewells with Departures, created with Etihad Airways, featuring installations such as AA. Murakami’s Thousand Layers of Stomach, that transforms generative code from clam shells into a textile, and Ali Chaaban’s giant carpet airplane sculptures. Past security, stands A Nomadic Library by Mira Hawa Projects, Studio Etienne Bastormagi, and Dongola Limited Editions – a movable, foldable, expandable aluminium structures for large institutions, in an installation reflecting on memory, history, and cultural identity.

A long corridor leads to the circular rotunda, crowned by shimmering mosaic tiles, where galleries and special projects unfold in dialogue with the architecture. 'We don’t build white cubes,' underlines Bellavance-Lecompte. 'The space itself must speak.' It does as, all around, a constellation of forward-thinking galleries explores materiality.

Dubai’s The AP Room presents Aline Hazarian’s bronze-accented coffee table, Bardo Collections showcases Tunisian works such as Aymen Mbarki’s poetic terracotta side table and Orient 499 debuts a wood and brass tables and stool Mida by David/Nicolas, inspired by the majlis.

On one side, Soleille Gallery highlights Alex Turco’s sturdy quartz-and-brass tables, on the other, Bureau of Innovation – that aims to unveil its first physical space in the region within 6–12 months, presents Studio Khachatryan’s acclaimed white bronze stools. Meanwhile, Leila Heller Gallery celebrates nearly 40 visionary years of Chihuly with a series of objects in glass.

'Choosing the right location is essential for a first edition, and this location is extraordinary,' says Marco Voena of the international gallery Robilant+Voena, exhibiting pieces by Alighiero Boetti and Michelangelo Pistoletto beneath the splendidly decorated dome.

Next, Mondavilli Scagliola bridges historic and contemporary Italian design, from Alessandro Mendini to Michela Cattai and Lavinia Fuksas. London's Gallery Fumi presents reinterpretations of techniques typical of the region like tapestry, with Kustaa Saksi’s visionary rugs inspired by his recurring migraines.

Galerie BSL showcases the stone tables by Levantine designer Nada Debs x Studio Lél, echoing Andreu’s pentagonal ceiling. We Gallery spotlights its Brazilian and Latin American roots with masters such as Oscar Niemeyer alongside young talent like Lucas Recchia, presenting his bulle side tables.

Jewellery takes the stage with A2Z’s dazzling Dream Vault, joined by Studio Renn’s avant-garde pieces and Kamyen’s high jewellery, paired with Modu’s industrial-inspired modules.

Special commissions

Some special projects, set in the waiting areas facing the gates, are a world apart. Nilufar unfolds a striking 'slice' layout softened by signature drapery – a selection focusing on bronze, marble, and brass, preceded by a corridor charmingly lit by Christian Pellizzari’s creations.

Bottega Veneta invites artists (curated by Rana Beiruti) to reinterpret weaving for the 50th anniversary of its iconic leather weave Intrecciato, featuring among others a green geometric structure inspired by Emirati weaving traditions by Abdalla Almulla and a poetic luminous Totem by Nader Gammas, with hand-cut custom ceramic sheets.

Abu Dhabi as the centre of a creative ecosystem

Nomad’s ambition to foster dialogue between local artisanship and global savoir-faire is reinforced by the House of Artisans Design Competition, and off-site installations like Shifting Terrains at Jumeirah Saadiyat Island, including Neda Salmanpour’s wind-carved vertical sculptures, sand towers seemingly carved by wind, presented by Inloco Gallery.

'We’re bringing an entirely new standard to the region, this is the right moment to be here,' says Bellavance-Lecompte. 'Sales are strong—many galleries have sold half their booth or even more in the first days. I can easily foresee Abu Dhabi becoming, in two-three years, one of the world’s most important destinations for collectible design.'

Presented in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, Nomad aligns with the city’s expanding cultural ecosystem, including the new Mecanoo-designed Natural History Museum in the same Saadiyat Cultural District of Louvre Abu Dhabi, TeamLab, the Abrahamic Family House, and the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum.

The fair also coincides with Abu Dhabi Art—which will evolve into Frieze Abu Dhabi next year—and with Manar, the citywide light-art exhibition featuring works such as Studio Drift’s Whispers, a field of fibre-optic stems swaying like nocturnal wheat.

Given that we find ourselves in an airport, asking Bellavance-Lecompte about future destinations feels almost beside the point: 'My first priority is to assess our new destinations, which are Abu Dhabi and the Hamptons. I really want to do a deep level work, because I believe they have great potential - they're completely different, but they can bring very interesting and complementary dynamics at the same time.'

The 2025 RIBA Middle East Award winners have just been announced, the inaugural honorees in one of the organisation’s two new territory accolades.

The new RIBA awards, launched this year as part of the UK institution's International Awards expansion, focus on two territories – the Middle East and Asia Pacific – freshly added to its prestigious roster. As revealed today (5 November), nine buildings share the 2025 RIBA Middle East Award top spot, while the Asia Pacific winners will follow in a few weeks.

The 2025 RIBA Middle East Award winners

These Middle East awards, which will be celebrated at an event on 7 November 2025 during Dubai Design Week, were created to put a spotlight on the region's creativity and pioneering architecture. The winners span from the world’s first purpose-built women-only mosque in Qatar, to the world’s largest city park, in Riyadh. Scroll down for the full list.

Discover the winners

• Adaptive Reuse Winner: The Serai Wing, Sharjah – Bait Khalid Bin Ibrahim by Anarchitect
• Design for Living Winner: Al Wasl Plaza, Dubai – Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
• Future Project Winner: King Salman Park, Riyadh – Gerber Architekten is leading a joint venture with two engineering partners, Buro Happold, and Setec
• RIBA Member Winner: Buhais Geology Park Interpretive Centre, Al-Madam Plan – Hopkins Architects
• RIBA Member Winner: Expo 2020 Thematic Districts, Dubai –Hopkins Architects
• Social Architecture Winner: Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women, Doha – conceived by Her Highness, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Sustainability & Resilience Winner: Jafar Centre, Dubai College, Dubai – Godwin Austen Johnson
• Temporary Architecture Winner: Singapore Pavilion, World Expo 2020, Dubai – WOHA
• Temporary Architecture Winner: World Food Waste Teahouse: Arabi-an, Dubai – Mitsubishi Jisho Design

RIBA's new awards: an explainer with president Chris Williamson

We caught up with RIBA president Chris Williamson to discuss the institution's new territory awards – their significance, the RIBA International Awards expansion, and how to submit.

Wallpaper*: Why establish The Asia Pacific Award and the Middle East Award?

Chris Williamson: The establishment of these awards marks an exciting new chapter for RIBA’s international engagement. Both the Asia Pacific and the Middle East are regions of extraordinary architectural ambition and diversity, where innovation, heritage and rapid transformation coexist. Launching these regional awards is part of RIBA’s mandate to celebrate design excellence wherever it is found and to be a supportive platform to projects that address pressing global challenges in their local contexts.

These awards are the first phase of our expanded international awards programme, recognising the architectural creativity shaping two of the most dynamic parts of the world today. They create new pathways for projects to gain global recognition and contribute to RIBA’s long-term aim of connecting architects across regions through shared learning, sustainability, and cultural exchange.

W*: What were you hoping to see in the submissions and shortlists?

CW: This year’s process was led by our Middle East and Asia Pacific Award jury panels, whose collective expertise and regional insight have been invaluable in shaping the results.

We hoped to see work that truly reflects the spirit of its place and understands its cultural, climatic and social context while pushing the boundaries of architecture. Both the Asia Pacific and Middle East shortlists deliver exactly that.

They demonstrate how architecture is addressing universal challenges, climate change, urbanisation, and social inclusion, through intelligent and contextually attuned design. What stands out is how architects are drawing on tradition, technology and local materials to create spaces that not only respond to their environments but actively enrich them.

W*: Are there specific highlights and innovations that you would flag as exceptional from the two shortlists?

CW: The juries’ assessments revealed rich and diverse forms of innovation across both regions. In the Middle East, [winning] projects such as the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women in Qatar were recognised for advancing new social models through architecture, spaces that integrate spiritual, educational and communal functions in ways that reflect contemporary shifts in society. The King Salman Park masterplan in Riyadh was also commended for its scale and ecological ambition, transforming the city’s public realm and setting new benchmarks for urban sustainability.

In the Asia Pacific [shortlist], the jury identified a distinct movement toward socially and environmentally responsive design. BRAC University in Dhaka exemplifies this with its flood-resilient, low-energy campus that connects learning with nature and community. The Shenzhen Energy Ring reimagines industrial infrastructure as public architecture, turning a waste-to-energy facility into an expressive civic landmark.

As observed by the jury, these projects reflect a regional shift toward architecture that is both technologically advanced and deeply responsible to people and place.

W*: What does the foundation of these two new awards mean for the other RIBA awards’ categories, such as the International Awards, for instance? How do the new honours sit within the RIBA awards cycle?

CW: These new regional awards represent an evolution of RIBA’s International Awards. They strengthen the entire awards ecosystem by providing a more localised and inclusive structure for recognising excellence.

All built projects from the Asia Pacific and Middle East Awards will be eligible to progress towards the RIBA International Prize in 2026, the world’s most eminent prize for architecture.

This creates a more layered, global awards journey, recognising regional talent first before elevating the very best projects to an international stage. It adds depth, context and diversity to the International Awards cycle, ensuring that significant architecture from every region is celebrated, understood and showcased worldwide.

W*: How are the new awards judged, and what do architects need to submit?

CW: The prestige of the RIBA Awards rests on the rigour and integrity of the judging process. Every built project, regardless of size or style, is visited and analysed by an architect with extensive knowledge of the specific region, ensuring that our awards are grounded in first-hand assessment.

The new regional awards follow the same principles. Each jury comprises award-winning architects with deep experience working in the respective regions, capable of evaluating projects within their cultural, climatic and economic contexts.

For this cycle, architects were asked to submit projects they’ve completed between 2020 and 2024 and provide supporting sustainability data. Entries span up to ten categories, from Adaptive Reuse and Social Architecture to AI-powered Design and Sustainability & Resilience.

Ultimately, we assess design excellence in its broadest sense: how a project meets its brief, serves its community, responds to climate, and contributes positively to its environment and future generations.

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The Sharjah Biennial 2025, which recently opened in the UAE (running from February until 15 June), showcases art made in response to world events, from a range of international perspectives. This 16th edition of the biennial, ‘To Carry’, sees five curators seek to give voice and platforms to a truly international group of artists, with a focus on non-Western perspectives.

‘To Carry’ takes its title from a poem that is the curatorial statement. Taking place across 17 venues, the event showcases work by almost 200 participants, spanning artists from Indigenous cultures in Australia and New Zealand to those from Palestine, India, Turkey, Switzerland, Singapore, Afghanistan and beyond.

Sites include Buhais Geological Park, a former seabed flanked by mountains and currently home to Megan Cope’s Kinyingarra Poles, 2025; Sharjah’s 1970s brutalist architecture landmark ‘The Flying Saucer’, a retail site-turned-arts hub that is hosting an installation by Australian art star Daniel Boyd; and a cavernous ex-bank where Julianknxx’s work is displayed. Among other venues are a renovated ice factory on marshland, a disused fruit market, Sharjah Art Museum, and an ex-hospital, now part of the Sharjah Art Foundation that hosts the biennial. The works range hugely in size, theme and media.

The curators are Amal Khalaf, who proposes storytelling, divination and song as rituals for collective learning and resistance; Alia Swastika, who looks at power, poetics and politics; Megan Tamati-Quennell, who focuses on land, impermanence and speculative futures; Natasha Ginwala, who looks at littoral sites and water in Sharjah and beyond; and Zeynep Oz, who looks at societal changes in response to accelerated technological and scientific change. At the opening, each spoke of how rewarding the collaboration has been and this is felt in the theme of the artworks, many of which involve collective work.

The essence of the theme ‘To Carry’ is to carry change in one's work or life, whether that be through choice or circumstance. Speaking to the region where the exhibition takes place, these changes manifest as movement, migration, unrest and the aftermath and rumblings of war. The essence of the curation is empathy but the subjects the biennial deals with are causing the fundamental shifts we are experiencing in the world today.

‘There has been so much intention and [effort] to stay present to what's been going on in the world,’ said co-curator Khalaf. ‘The artists are sharing so many stories that embody this energy of being present and processing; lots of themes, lots of emotions, lots of rage, lots of politics, lots of histories, lots of ruptures run through each of their works. Having them emerge in the biennial all together feels very powerful for me.’

Featured by co-curator Ginwala is the Singing Wells Project (SWP), a collaboration between Nairobi-based Ketebul Music and London’s Abubila Music, which identifies and preserves recordings of Indigenous East African Music. Shown as a film work, with seats, instruments and headphones to access the archive, SWP’s contribution highlights the fruits of collective work, offering insights into the preservation of a culture that otherwise might not be internationally shared.

There is a focus on collectives throughout the biennial, with work from Womanifesto, an international organisation for women artists; UK-based The Voice of Domestic Workers; the Anga collective from Assam; and Bilna’es, a collective whose contributions include a vinyl album, Only Sounds That Tremble Through Us.

Meanwhile, ‘Al Qasimiyah School’ is a moving exhibition of work made by a family fleeing Gaza to Cairo. Parents Dina Mattar and Mohammed Al-Hawarji show paintings, while their son created sculptures of their family’s heads and their daughter made a series of drawings. Accompanied by a film of their journey out of Gaza, this moving group of works gives rare insight into the lived experience of Gazans over the last year.

Reflects co-curator Khalaf, ‘In the process of making the biennial, I was working with artists who are being asked to be vulnerable, to share very difficult things, or to bring people into that process; artists that are going through a lot of things. I had lots of artists that have been displaced, have lost family members, and this was happening to my family, just a few months ago in Lebanon.’

Themes of grief and mourning are very present in the biennial. Arthur Jafa’s LOML, 2022, a sombre abstract film dedicated to his late friend, the musician, writer and critic Greg Tate.

There is also an embrace of memory. Perimeter Walk, 2013-24, by Heman Chong, is a series of postcards through which he shares his explorations of neglected parts of the coast of Singapore. In reaction to the country’s strict laws, Chong shows us vistas, fragments and found objects, offering up a different view than that of popular imagination. Sharjah Artist Prize winner Aziz Hazara’s I Love Bagram (ILB), 2025, documents a post-war Afghanistan with a focus on the detritus left behind that may or may not be repurposed or reused.

The biennial also brings certain practices to our attention, such as that of Kenyan sculptor Morris Folt, whose modern hand-carved African sculpture captures scenes from everyday life. Folt’s work is shown with that by Indigenous Australian artist Brian Martin, and Alia Farid’s beautiful film Chibayish, 2023, which documents residents of the southern marshlands of Iraq. Farid shows large-scale resin photographic works, printed with images of her Kuwaiti and Puerto-Rican grandmothers that seek to invoke protection

Concepts of care and preservation bring in works that deal with climate and extraction. Stephanie Comilang’s stunning film installation sees the artist project her work, Search for Life II, 2025, about the history of the pearl trade and the impact of mass production today, onto a screen made from strings of pearl. Separated by a scaffolding platform is another screen playing pearl-related social media posts, fake pearl scams, and content highlighting the warped nature of what is essentially a farming industry.

Adelita Husni-Bey’s Like a Flood, 2025, is a standout work, a film in three parts dealing with failing water infrastructures, colonialism and climate change, effectively making its point in the setting of a life-sized dystopian building site.

The open nature of the message of the Sharjah Biennial 2025 is intended to sit in opposition to negative forces in a strong but gentle way, offering alternative ideas of paths forward. At times, the five threads that run through the exhibition seem disparate and then they reconvene, the message of catharsis and solidarity remaining inspiring.

The 16th Sharjah Biennial runs until 15 June 2025

sharjahart.org

It’s a bright morning in Abu Dhabi, and 40 journalists from around the world are filing into a soft circular structure resembling a mini duomo. There’s a perceptible mood switch from the cubic gallery-slash-bar where we had all been drinking green juices moments before, sort of akin to entering a church on a blinding summer’s day. Voices hush, eyes adjust to the dark, and people find places to sit on the plush terracotta-coloured carpet. In comes the man we are all here to meet, the radical urban planner, spiritual potter, and internationally acclaimed artist who is the mind behind this year’s edition of Prada Mode: Theaster Gates.

‘I thought that I would go kindergarten style and just try to keep it as simple as possible,’ the Chicago-based artist says, explaining the energetic duality of the site-specific installation he has built in the MiZa district of the city, a burgeoning creative neighbourhood along the waterfront that was once a working port in the 1970s. ‘When establishing the emotional infrastructure of a project, the first few words are really important. I started by saying: “The show will be based on a circle and a square.” The circle, in my case, representing community, democracy, the feminine, the creative; the square representing the rigid and infrastructural. I hoped that would be enough of a prompt that great things would emerge.’

Inside Prada Mode Abu Dhabi, hosted by Theaster Gates

If you’ve not heard of it before, Prada Mode is an immersive arts-led programme that merges installation, music, food, and performances, held in culturally exciting cities around the globe. Starting with Carsten Höller in London back in 2008, each edition has been guided by the vision of an artist, with past iterations shaped by Damien Hirst, Martine Syms, and Kazuyo Sejima (one half of RIBA Gold Medal-winning Sanaa). Uniquely, Gates is the only artist to have hosted Prada Mode three times. As a social aggregator driven by a mission to ‘invite people to engage, participate, and collaborate’ – to ‘wake things up’ – he has approached this year's edition with the aim of offering a new perspective on a city often misunderstood by the West.

Gates was born the youngest of nine and the only boy in his family. The son of a teacher and a roofer, he was raised to understand the value of learning and making things well. He trained in sculpture and urban planning, but it was a visit to the small Japanese town of Tokoname to learn the craft of pottery in his twenties that shaped his philosophy as an artist. There he saw how a clay pot can be practical, used to drink tea every morning; or spiritual, carrying the ashes of a loved one. He began to approach the ‘vessel’ as a metaphor for the multiplicity of life, and has, ever since, seen his practice as a way of honouring the ‘spirit within things’.

‘I think that studying clay helped me understand that ugly things, muddy things, or things that are unformed are just waiting for the right set of hands,’ he once said. Much of the forces that have powered his later work – to study, to record, to endure, to seek connection – can be traced back to Tokoname, he tells the room in Abu Dhabi. ‘From 2004 to 2024, I maintained a relationship with this small town, and kept talking about pots until the world was ready to talk about pots. I'm always telling people they should stay on their square, and eventually, maybe the world will be interested in the things you are.’

Gates applies this sense of grounding to Prada Mode Abu Dhabi. Rather than replicating the ‘bombastic’ party machine of past years, this time the artist wanted to be a bit more circumspect. ‘Driving around, you can't go a mile without running into really significant mosques,’ he says. ‘The sacred is present in everyday life in the UAE. I thought we would try to bring some of that here.’ First devising the installation space of the square and the circle – one expansive, where drinks flow and DJ sets bring an energy of celebration; the other a cosy embrace, a place to learn and reflect – then he thought about ways to bring the spiritual in. He decided the best way to do this would be through the voices of Arab women.

‘These kinds of projects can be so male-heavy,’ Gates explains. ‘I'm accounting for the gender biases that I've benefited from. I have eight sisters and I’m always thinking of them. If there's ever a platform to yield, I would like to yield my platform to the sisters.’ Leaning on curator Myrna Ayad and NTS founder Femi Adeyemi, Gates devised a programme spotlighting female talent from the UAE and Arab diaspora. These included talks with female artists reflecting on ideas of tradition and modernity, traditional weaving workshops with Awatef Al-Mesmari, explosive performances by girl band Seera and DJ Nooriyah, and delicious food by Salam Dakkak. ‘The idea was to start an artistic work by paying attention to what's present in front of you,’ Gates explains. ‘What's locally sourced, in terms of materials? What's locally harvested? In terms of knowledge, what's present? There is nuance here, and it's about the unearthing of that discovery.’

Meanwhile, in the square space, an image curation printed on cotton sails gently flutters in the breeze. These were printed with images from Gates’ archive of 60,000 decommissioned glass lantern slides saved from the University of Chicago, depicting ancient artefacts, architecture and culture relating to the Middle East. ‘Beyond the circle and square, I was like, ‘What are people going to look at?’’ he says. ‘I was thinking about the UAE and the ways in which the West has constantly tried to understand it, but understand it to conquer or corrupt or absorb. I said to my team, “Let's pull up everything that feels in some way connected to the sacred.” It's a gross survey that is functioning as a kind of art history, architectural history, archaeological history.’

While Prada Mode is ultimately a party, Gates has used it as an opportunity to tell stories about the UAE that matter. The space reminds you of a few of his most moving projects. Namely, his regeneration of the neglected street he grew up on in Chicago, where two decades ago the artist saved a dilapidated house and transformed it into a library filled with 14,000 art books. Later, he turned the house next door into a listening space full of salvage records, then opened a soul food spot between the two. Awakening the road while attracting makers and artists, these sites have become vital archives of Black history and living, breathing places for community to gather.

Gates’ elegiac Serpentine Pavilion, Black Chapel, also comes to mind, created in 2022 as a tribute to his father after his passing. A circular structure reminiscent of the one in MiZa, it was inspired by the curves of a clay pot and the tarred materials his father used to repair roofs every day. Here too, a cultural programme of music, performance, and shared ideas that brought the installation to life. In every instance, it would seem, Gates reveals how his artwork itself is secondary to the people his projects unite. Really, they are vessels for connection.

It’s sites like this – where music, ideas, and tradition are shared – that are the reason Gates has such a close relationship with Prada in the first place. Miuccia Prada first met the radical artist in the basement of storied Soho jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in 2012. Gates was performing with his band The Black Monks and was in London for the opening of his show In the Event of a Race Riot at The Arts Club, a display of powerful works made from decommissioned fire hoses. The pair became instant friends, and the designer has brought Gates firmly into the cultural fold of the house in the years since, making him a co-chair of its Diversity and Inclusion Council, displaying two exhibitions at Fondazione Prada, and giving him free rein on projects like Prada Mode and the Experimental Design Lab, which offered a platform to young Black creative voices. ‘Prada's a family company in Italy,’ Gates says with a convivial laugh. ‘They could use some diversity, if you know what I mean.’

Speaking with natural wisdom and humour, Gates is a joy to listen to. One of the most interesting things he says about his practice comes at the end of the talk in the womb-like duomo, where he says he doesn’t see himself as a ‘community artist’, despite spending decades making art that unites people and ideas through space. ‘My project was not about Chicago as much as it was about demonstrating that there is wealth and riches right in front of you,’ he explains. ‘I'm not a community artist. I'm not a community activist. I'm just a guy. But my practice depends so much on having a willingness to be present with people who are great, in a place that is great, even though others haven't recognised yet how great it is.’

Here it feels like Gates is touching upon the West’s preconceived ideas of Abu Dhabi, perhaps as a place shaped by conservative values and explosive wealth. Driving around the city, it’s true that the lavish scale of its seven star hotels and newly built monuments – such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, inside which are housed several of the world’s most valuable artworks – are a surreal sight to behold in all their glittering newness. Gates' celebration of the city, however, looks beneath the sparkly glamour of high rises and malls to the human: celebrating Middle Eastern traditions of hospitality, vibrant new voices in music and art, and the universal act of gathering.

‘We couldn't be here without the generosity of this place,’ he points out. ‘Without its belief in culture and fashion, but also a belief in itself. By pivoting from the party, I hope we can just be in dialogue and celebrate great voices. Celebrate them here.’

Prada Mode is open to the public today, 14 February 2025. Register here.

prada.com

Delano made its debut in South Beach in 1995, with a game changing Philippe Starck-designed property that defined South Beach cool in the 90s and helped pioneer the lifestyle hotel as we know it. That original is currently getting a full-scale refresh ahead of its relaunch later this year, but in the meantime, the brand landed in Paris with Maison Delano, which opened in 2023 inside an 18th-century mansion in the 8th arrondissement. Now comes the Dubai edition, a coastal spin that nods to the Miami original but brings its own sense of place.

Wallpaper* checks in at Delano Dubai

What’s on your doorstep?

Sitting just off the coast of Dubai Marina, Bluewaters is best known for its residential towers, high-street gloss and the giant Ain Dubai wheel that looms over it all. Until now, it’s been more lifestyle precinct than luxury destination, but now, thanks to Ennismore, this slick entertainment hub has a new draw.

Who is behind the design?

For those who remember the Miami classic, there are nods throughout, such as the white-draped cabanas, sunken pool loungers, and a focus on theatrical, design-led spaces. But this isn’t a replica. The Dubai version dials things up with interiors – very much of the moment – that feel warmer and more intimate, with the earthy tones, curved silhouettes, and a generous use of wood, stone and textured fabrics that trade the stark minimalism of the original for something richer and more inviting.

The 251 rooms and suites are quietly confident, the design led by a quartet of studios – Elastic Architects, SA Consultants, La Bottega Interiors and YDesign – together with Ennismore’s in-house team. Oak floors, soft custom wool rugs, fluted leather bed headboards, and softly curved furnishings are revealed through a calming neutral palette and accented by archival colour photographs of Delano South Beach. Most come with balconies or terraces that open to sea or pool views, while the Breaking Waves Suites on the ground floor go a step further, with private pools just a few steps from the beach.

The room to book

Spanning the entire seventh floor, the Penthouse unfolds to include formal and family spaces – which can be kept separate – a professional Bulthaup kitchen, five en-suite bedrooms and two terraces with views over the Arabian Gulf. More like a private home, the design is revealed through organically shaped furnishings like the Meridiani sofas and Poliform armchairs, which are set around wool rugs and Flos lighting all in a tonal palette.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Among Delano’s eight restaurants and bars, Blue Door – set among the hotel grounds within a romantic garden – stands out for its Anatolian coastal menu, which features an array of traditional mezze and grilled specialties. A short walk along the beach path are Gohan and La Cantine. The former serves elevated Japanese favourites like the chicken and foie gyozas, while La Cantine is a lifestyle destination with an adults-only pool, a sports club with a pickleball court, and a restaurant which sends out Mediterranean classics like the squid ink risotto.

Back at the hotel Tutto Passa serves an all-day classic Italian menu, but it is great for a late breakfast, before heading to the adjacent pool, where cabanas, sunken pool loungers and laid-back lounge beats send out Miami vibes. As for the nightlife, Rose Bar, its low lighting, red velvet seating, marble tables and killer cocktail menu are sure to draw the crowds just like the South Beach original, which it was inspired by.

The verdict

Delano Dubai isn’t just a rebrand, it’s a full reboot. Part of a dual project alongside the neighbouring Banyan Tree – and a collection of restaurants – the launch brings a fresh energy to Bluewaters, that shifts the island’s focus toward something decidedly more refined.

Delano Dubai is located at Bluewaters - Bluewaters Island - Dubai - United Arab Emirates; delanohotels.com

This new Art Jameel pavilion, Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum, commissioned by the arts organisation and designed by Lebanese practice theOtherDada, is a fractal, domed structure stretching over the amphitheatre at the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park in Dubai. Weaving together traditional and high technologies, recycled waste materials and indigenous plants, the architectural pavilion aims to bring life to the area over the next five months, forming a new ‘interspecies habitat’. 

It sees Art Jameel, which supports artists and creative communities and is behind both the sculpture park and the wider Jameel Arts Centre, promote a conversation about sustainability and re-use. 

Founded in 2010 by architect Adib Dada, theOtherDada pushes the boundaries of traditional architecture, adopting a ‘holistic and biomimetic design approach with nature and people at its core’. Reflects Dada, ‘I had these two diametrically opposed practices – building for humans and building for other organisms […] When this commission came along, it became an opportunity to weave these two practices together in a meaningful way.’ 

Art Jameel pavilion, a study in sustainablity

Deeply involved in contemporary art scenes and climate activism in Beirut, from leading ‘Toxic Tours’ of the Beirut river to developing tree-planting project theOtherForest, Dada was invited to an Art Jameel symposium in March 2023 to discuss the role of arts institutions in addressing the climate crisis. 

Art Jameel director Antonia Carver explains, ‘What does it mean to create exhibitions in this climate? What do we do with all the materials after?’ As a direct result of the symposium, Art Jameel has been rethinking its exhibition production processes and reusing waste such as gypsum moulds.

‘Tarabot is an Arabic word that means “weaving together” [...] we’re weaving together issues of architecture, urbanism, ecology, wildlife and human-life centred design,’ says Dada. A lack of shade and life on the pavilion’s site prompted a shade-providing design. Working closely with architect Dalia Hamati, Nader Akoum, scientists, and desert conservationists, Dada conceptualised four life-giving ‘pillars’ – Soil, Water, Plants and Energy – for the pavilion, corresponding to the dome’s three touchpoints with the ground, and its roof.

The first pillar, Soil, makes compost out of waste from the art centre’s exhibitions, neighbouring restaurant Teible and coffee shop. Encased in modular ‘bouquets’ made from local date palm waste, a zero-carbon material, by Desert Board, the waste is broken down by mycelium (the root-like system of fungus). 

The Water pillar uses solar power to condense and filter water from the humidity in air. This water drips through a series of traditional passive cooling clay cones, handmade by local potters, collecting as freshwater in the pavilion pool. 

The Plants pillar uses the composted soil and collected fresh water to grow vegetables that return to the restaurant. Salicornia, an indigenous edible plant able to grow in saltwater, is also planted, further attracting insects, birds and pollinators. Artwork from multidisciplinary Dubai-based artist Solimar Miller features intricate handcrafted prints on upcycled fabrics, representing indigenous flora and fauna that are endangered in the UAE. 

The Energy pillar, on the roof features aluminium cones that funnel sunlight into the pavilion, and Arish, traditional palm-leaf roofing systems provide shade. 

Almost all materials used in the pavilion are biodegradable or fully recyclable. Once it’s dismantled, the modular cones of soil and plants will be divided and taken to garden homes and balconies by local communities, disseminating indigenous plants in the region. The unfinished steel structure’s fractal design was fine-tuned with local coral practitioners in the Emirate of Fujairah, and the structure will take on new life as an underwater habitat for coral, ‘linking life on land to life underwater’. 

On what he hopes visitors will take away from the project, Dada muses, ‘I think developing a culture of care and understanding on the more than human. It’s not about us saving the planet. The planet doesn’t need saving, we need saving.’

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum is open to the public at Jadaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, Dubai until 30 April 2024

Artjameel.org 

theOtherDada.com

theotherdada.com 

jameelartscentre.org

SUPER LIMBO sits inside the unfinished Sharjah Mall, a cavernous, concrete complex of 64,753 sq m that's left paused mid-way through construction, looming large over the UAE’s Sharjah. A striking contrast to the otherwise developed cityscape, the structure bears a totemic quality, a modern-day relic increasingly endemic to fast-industrialising spaces.

Taking on Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023’s (SAT) theme, 'The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability’, the new installation is the contemplative response by Dominique Petit-Frère and Emil Grip of Ghanaian spatial design studio Limbo Accra and Rym Beydoun, founder of Ivorian textile brand Super Yaya, with technical architectural support from multidisciplinary artist and architect Anne-Lise Agoosa. 'As SUPER LIMBO emerges in the heart of Sharjah Mall, it seeks to provoke thought, inspire imagination, and evoke a collective reimagining of what once stood and what may yet come to be,' the team says. 

SUPER LIMBO installation opens at Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023

‘Drawing on the significance of storytelling in desert cultures spanning West Africa to the Middle East, and its ability to invoke imagery, our pavilion is both soft yet impactful,’ say SUPER LIMBO’s authors. Initial field research by Limbo Accra led the team to the seemingly deserted Sharjah Mall, often leaving their taxi drivers both bemused and intrigued on their many visits. Upon further investigation, they found the structure was not entirely abandoned, but rather 'in a long wait to capitalise its real estate potential.’

Combining Beydoun’s material sensitivity and Limbo and Agoosa’s space-making practice, the team devised a pavilion of intricately woven calico cotton, draped between the mammoth structure’s vast voids. The design was inspired by the ‘cascade of construction fabric enveloping yet-to-be-completed structures, signalling their transitional phases.’ Clear on their intentions to reflect on potential rather than shortcomings, the team said: ‘It is within this labyrinth of liminality that SUPER LIMBO emerges, aiming to reshape the narrative of this space.’

Celebrating intercontinental creation and collaboration 

Preparation for SAT 2023 began over the past year, developed through a series of frequent calls, sometimes between New York and Berlin, Copenhagen and Accra, or Beirut and Abidjan, tirelessly teasing out ideas, and eventually landing on SUPER LIMBO's final form. ‘SUPER’ is a nod to both the textile brand involved, but also the unprecedented scale of the project. After months of prototyping in Super Yaya’s studio, collaborations with a Pakistan-based NGO saw a cooperative of twenty women weave together the principle fabric ‘curtains’.

‘The sample I made at the studio was on a window [...] we really loved how light reflected with it,’ explains Beydoun. The final woven fabric design intentionally interacts with the abundant natural light in Sharjah, casting dramatic shadows in the space. Together with a photo exhibition and a display of Limbo Accra’s digital archive, visitors are encouraged to enter, touch and partake in this ‘world-building exercise’. Working closely with site managers and SAT teams, strict safety parameters were introduced, which simultaneously restrict and contribute to the installation.

Inspiring new practices and legacy 

Opening in 11 November 2023, during the Sharjah triennial’s inaugural weekend and coinciding with Dubai Design Week, SUPER LIMBO was visited by design enthusiasts and local communities alike. An opening panel discussion led by Petit-Frère, with Sharjah-based, Palestinian architect Sara Bokr, Egyptian architect Reem Khorshid, a key contributor to the publication 'Building Sharjah,' and Nigerian curator Oyindamola Fakeye, laid the foundations for conversations on the practice of transforming unfinished spaces for the creative arts. 

Recognising the impermanence of the installation, which will remain open until March 2024, the SUPER LIMBO team stress how, beyond the triennial, ‘the pavilion’s spatial software, entwined with its narrative, will live on and be repurposed’. The team said: ‘After the Triennale, Limbo Accra will repurpose the fabric into apparel, accessories, or upholstery together with the Super Yaya brand. This offers individuals an intimate experience as they take home pieces woven with the essence of our pavilion's journey.’

SUPER LIMBO is a thought-through, timely and transformative installation by the formidable forces of Limbo Accra and Super Yaya, that pushes for a greater collective consciousness on liminality, calling for visitors to ponder on the potential futures and legacies of both materials and spaces.

limboaccra.online 

@superyaya100 

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 has launched with the global UAE festival opening its doors to the public over the weekend. Its theme, ‘The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability', has been set by its curator, Lagos-based architect Tosin Oshinowo of Oshinowo Studio (formerly cmDesign Atelier), who has pulled out all the stops to create a true global showcase for the festival's second edition. Exhibits are set to 'explore how we can create meaningful spaces that speak to their local environments and will highlight the contextual architects that are currently doing so', she told us during an interview earlier this year. 

Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023: what to expect

Launching with a three-day celebration programme comprising talks, tours, screenings, workshops, and performances, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 puts the spotlight on the Global South, and architects' solutions for the territory's conditions of scarcity. Hoor Al Qasimi, president and director of Sharjah Art Foundation, highlighted at the opening the importance of this platform, which is 'rare in this part of the world, and is free and accessible to all'.

Oshinowo's curation is sharp but also broad, with carefully selected displays, as she investigates her theme from different angles. Her focus? Sustainability in the broader sense, which encompasses notions of community and who architecture and this event is addressed to ('everyone, in different ways', is her answer), as well as ideas around modernity and prosperity. 'The cornucopian model is unsustainable,' she said at the event's official opening ceremony. 'It is beyond an apology or acknowledgment of wrong. It's about planning together a constructive plan for the future. And it's not about going back. It's about looking back to go forward.'

A wide range of acclaimed participants (spanning exhibitors and participants in a rich events programme) include Lesley Lokko (curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, architect and founder of the African Futures Institute in Accra), Rahul Mehrotra (Founder of RMA Architects and Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design), Cave_bureau, DAAR – Sandi Hilal & Alessandro Petti (who won the Golden Lion at the recent Venice Architecture Biennale 2023), Hive Earth, and Olorunfemi Adewuyi, architectural associate at Studio Contra – among many more.  

Highlights from the Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 exhibitions

A total of 29 contributions feature within the Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023's main show, which is spread across five main sites – Al Qasimiyah School, the old Al Jubail vegetable market, the old slaughterhouse, Industrial Area 5, the Sharjah Mall, and Al Madam (a ghost village in the desert, about an hour's drive from the city centre). 

The venues themselves offer a fitting backdrop to their displays, as Oshinowo carefully planned what goes where and worked with exhibitors to find the best home for their design. Limbo Accra's SUPER LIMBO, for instance, which examines the future and potential of abandoned construction sites, could not be in a better venue than the paused-half-way-through-construction Sharjah Mall. 

Meanwhile, exhibition designers Space Caviar oversaw the way everything comes together from their own perspective, working with found objects and raw construction materials to craft an appropriate setting for each exhibit to sing on its own.

At the Al Qasimiyah School, where the largest proportion of participations can be found, highlights include a powerful (conceptually but also olfactorily, due to its production method in cardboard papier-mâché) piece by Sandra Poulson on dust in Luanda, and how it defined urban borders and became an 'accidental gift'; an open-air 'corridor' by Vinu Daniel and Wallmakers created in desert sand and some of the (terrifying amount of) used tyres discarded across the globe every three minutes; a peaceful and cool pavilion made of earth by architect Sumaya Dabbagh; Nifemi Marcus-Bello's exploration in design as an open-source good, using the example of Lagos' 'Meruwa' carts for supplying water; and Natura Futura's floating housing structures in Ecuador. 

The old vegetable market's linear sequence of displays works very well, offering a good pace through pieces such as Olalekan Jayifous' signature speculative retrofuturist extravaganza, which on this occasion touches upon Sharjah's and the UAE's oil boom and evolution in the 20th century; Ruína Architecture's explorations in the reuse of demolition waste; and Thomas Egoumenides’ comment on authenticity, through his installation 'The Ship of Theseus'.

It culminates at the nearby abandoned slaughterhouse, which has been added to the triennial venues this year for the first time and is occupied by two of the event’s strongest installations. One is Cave_bureau's newest edition of its 'Anthropocene Museum' project, which places animals as protagonists and examines our attitudes to thoughtless consumption and growth through bold visuals, physical interventions to the building fabric, and sounds. The second piece is Adrian Pepe's intensely site-specific and rather uncanny installation made from the gathered pelts of the fat-tailed Awassi sheep, which are a by-product of the slaughtering process.

Alongside Limbo Accra's presence at Sharjah Mall, two more installations are located off the main sites, but they are truly worth the visit. Papa Omotayo (behind Yinka Shonibare's Ecology Green Farm in Nigeria) and Eve Nnaji of MOE+AA/ADD-apt have created a celebration of the fragile nature and birds found in the heart of one of Sharjah's several industrial areas. 

Made of recycled materials, it is a publically accessible pavilion, where one can wander in and contemplate notions of 'tending, caring and observing'.

The third off-site piece, and the furthest away, but one that must not be missed, is DAAR's 'Concrete Tent', set in Al Madam Village, near the borders with Oman and about an hour's drive from Sharjah centre. 

The urban context, built in the 1970s but since abandoned, feels a fitting, emotive setting for DAAR's comment around the permanence of temporary conditions, and becomes a powerful place for mourning. Visitors are invited into the tent, made from a repurposed solid wood frame and concrete-like appliqué, to reflect on migrant populations, their living conditions across the world, and the tragic death of children in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

This is a triennial that examines its themes through carefully selected installations that read as a well-rounded whole. Materials, human habits, challenging ideas, communities, the past, the present and imagined futures are all here, bringing together a thought-provoking result. 

'This Triennial is a labour of love and opportunity for discovery,' said Oshinowo. 'It will provide people with an opportunity to think differently about spaces, practices, and designs across the Global South. As an architect coming from practice, it is very important to me that the triennial is inclusive. Visitors will not need to have prior knowledge to engage with the ideas on display. Whether you have a strong understanding of design or not, you should be able to take something away from the triennial.'

Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023, 'The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability' runs 11 November 2023 – 10 March 2024 in the UAE

sharjaharchitecture.org

East Architecture Studio is the latest entry to the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios. Based in Lebanon and the UAE, this is a young practice with a thriving, multi-award-winning portfolio – including The Capsule Retreat, seen below. 

Who: East Architecture Studio

Architects Nicolas Fayad and Charles Kettaneh joined forces in 2015 and founded East Architecture Studio, the dynamic practice with one base in Lebanon, and another in the UAE. The practice now has worked across four continents and has won recognitions including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2022 for its Oscar Niemeyer Guest House Renovation project in Tripoli, Lebanon. 

Remaining small and agile while excelling in their field is important for the pair. They say: 'What sets us apart as a studio is our ability to tackle significant projects with a relatively small yet highly skilled team. We excel in adapting and designing within diverse contexts and environments, allowing us to create tailored solutions that perfectly align with each project's unique needs. We take pride in being a dynamic and forward-thinking architectural firm.'

The geographical and cultural mix their practice enables enriches their work. 'At East Architecture Studio, what truly motivates us is the opportunity to work with inspiring clients who share our passion for innovative design,' the two co-founders say. 'The chance to collaborate with individuals and teams from diverse backgrounds allows for a synergistic engagement and encourages us to push the boundaries of what is possible. 

‘We thrive on the energy that comes from partnering with both established and emerging artists, and being introduced to their unique perspectives and artistic sensibilities. Additionally, we relish challenges, as they fuel our drive for continuous evolution and enable us to find ingenious solutions to complex problems. The combination of these motivating factors fuels our enthusiasm, propels our creativity, and ensures that every project we undertake is a testament to the studio's dedication and commitment to delivering exceptional concepts.'

What: The Capsule Retreat

Among their latest residential commissions is The Capsule Retreat, a generous 350 sq m residence in the rural Zabbougha region of Lebanon. The scheme, a holiday home for a private client, sits in a plot that overlooks the coniferous pine forests of Mount Lebanon. The architects sought to balance through their design this rich natural context with the owners' contemporary needs and art collection. 

The project celebrates exposed concrete, making the most of the material's sculptural robustness by carving round edges, curves and sweeping openings that take in the outdoors. 

An open plan kitchen, dining and living space sits at the heart of the home, with the two hearths of the house, the chimney and the stove, located facing each other, creating a dynamic warmth – while signalling the owner's passion for cooking and entertaining.

Why: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023

Conceived in 2000 as an international index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. While always championing the best and most promising young studios, over the years, the project has showcased inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 23rd edition. Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Congo, Ecuador, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mozambique, Pakistan, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, the USA and Vietnam, with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.

eastarchitecture.net 

Minimalist architecture prevails at The Serai Wing of the Chedi Al Bait hotel in Sharjah. Crafted by Dubai-based architecture studio Anarchitect, the firm behind considerate and luxurious schemes such as a sprawling villa in Dubai Hills, the new hospitality space occupies a series of 1950s merchant residences that have been transformed to their current use as a stylish and contemporary boutique hotel experience with calming surroundings and all-mod-cons. 

The Serai Wing in Sharjah unveiled

Spanning a collection of private rooms and suites, The Serai Wing sits at the heart of Sharjah. The existing Emirati architecture's identity was kept, informing each of the spaces' unique design character. Meanwhile, a tranquil courtyard is placed at the core of the hotel, centred on a generous swimming pool with lounge seating and sculptural shading around it. 

'Historic layers sit harmoniously alongside new contemporary interventions realised in travertine stone and perforated white-metal surfaces that create additional and necessary functionality to facilitate the new hospitality program transcended into the properties,' the architects write. 

An entirely new, contemporary intervention to the layout's north-east section houses new guest accommodation in the shape of the two-storey Khalid Grand Suite. Clean lines and a serene overall interior dominate throughout, coupled with strategic design gestures that highlight privacy and seclusion – including carefully planned views and openings. 

Designed as an inner-city hotel, The Serai Wing feels modern but also of its place, incorporating Sharjah vistas at key moments and a relationship between art and architecture, inspired by the UAE city's strong links to the art world. 

anarchitect.com 

In 2018, one of the most influential curators of our times, Okwui Enwezor, agreed to curate the Sharjah Biennial 15. The following year, Enwezor sadly passed away, leaving Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi with his blessing to curate in his stead. 

‘Okwui had originally wanted to do a museum show combined with 30 new commissions, and he put together a list of key works from the “Postcolonial Constellation” [works of art selected by Enwezor to illustrate the geopolitics in the aftermath of mass colonialism in the last 400 years], so I took that as my starting point,’ Al Qasimi explained to Wallpaper*. 

Enwezor’s legacy is a post-colonial, even a post-national, approach in which he brought together artists to express their ideas outside the framework of the Western art world. Sharjah Biennial 15 brings together the participating artists in celebration of Enwezor’s vision. 

Al Qasimi has seized the curatorial baton following a global pandemic and within that, a social justice revolution. Postponing for two years also meant that this posthumous collaboration coincided with the 30-year anniversary of the biennial and Al Qasimi’s 20-year anniversary as director. The result, Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, is a coming together of the art world’s Global South and its diaspora, with over 170 artists and more than 300 artworks in venues across Sharjah – a once-in-a-generation event whose impact will be felt for years to come.

Representing viewpoints from all corners of the globe, the biennial presents major works from heavyweights, while also platforming new voices. From architectural interventions referencing migrant workers’ rights to post-internet interpretations of journeys taken by refugees, the scope of this show is enormous. 

The preservation of the historic architecture of Sharjah is a key remit of the Sharjah Art Foundation. Venues for the biennial combine the city’s old fruit market with new gallery spaces and cinemas across the region, including the newly completed Kalba Ice Factory site, which hosts stunning monumental sculptures, among them work by Doris Salcedo, who, alongside Bouchra Khalili and Hajra Waheed, was named winner of the Sharjah Biennial Prize.

The bumper list of 29 newly commissioned works includes a huge, site-specific installation by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, a film and VR experience by Cao Fei, a feature-length film by Coco Fusco, and installations by emerging artists Mandla, and Hajra Waheed.

Also of note were some striking pieces by John Akomfrah, who will represent Britain at the Venice Biennale 2024. The artist, writer and filmmaker debuted his newly commissioned five-channel film work Arcadia, 2023, which dispels ideas of nationalism through history, climate, nature and the passing of time in a monumental installation fitting for such a subject. Here, we see the human, the animal and the fabric of our ecosystem narrated through symbolic tableaux and expansive images of the Earth from space. 

Isaac Julien’s Once Again (Statues Never Die), 2022, addresses issues of collecting through the lens of Black, queer art historian Alain Locke, born in 1885, and his interaction with Albert C Barnes’ collection of African art. Drawing enormous queues at the biennial opening, the piece highlights Julien’s unique eye for beauty and his ability to distil complexity. 

Taking on the mantle of Enwezor’s ideas, artists tackle rights, identity, history, displacement and building a life in the face of adversity using a variety of methods and voices across the 19 biennial venues. The Living and the Dead Ensemble, a multidisciplinary collective from Haiti, present The Wake, 2021, at The Africa Institute. The three-channel video work uses poetry, movement and video-editing inspired by a night of earthquakes, protest and rebirth in which marginalised communities are summoned to unite. 

‘In the cosmogony of the Black Caribbean, inherited from the world of the plantation where a day is a long succession of constraints, forced labour and violence, the night is a space to catch one's breath,’ reads a statement from the ensemble. ‘A place for the re-composition of forces for a community of exhausted bodies, a place for reparations, cultural reinvention, of preparation for combats to come.’ 

Revolutionary Enclosures (Until the Apricots), a multi-faceted new collaborative work by artist and architect Dima Srouji and philosopher Jasbir Puar, addressed these themes through memories of the 2000 Second Intifada uprising in Palestine recalled by many experiencing the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020. Speaking to her contemporaries, Srouji realised that the experience of Covid lockdown brought back repressed memories of their experiences in 2000. The five-part installation includes personal letters, brass bus tickets to evoke the end of periodic lockdowns and wallpaper decorated with exploded bullets that, at a glance, look like flowers.

Though unwieldy at times, the Sharjah Biennial 15 is a remarkable and ambitious framing of creativity beyond the framework of the Western art world. 

'Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present' runs until 11 June 2023. sharjahart.org

When it comes to luxury resorts in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi may grab the lion’s share of the headlines, but insiders know that there are serious contenders aplenty to be found nearby. Exhibit A is the emirate of Ajman – a brisk 40-minute drive from Dubai, but a world apart from the madding crowd. Here, on a sprawling 247-acre estate framed by long stretches of beach and mangroves, the Oberoi Beach Resort, Al-Zorah is a handsome 89-room pasha’s retreat of white stone, timber and glass – the first and, by UAE standards, tiny salvo in the hotel group’s grander plans for the region.

Oberoi Beach Resort, Al-Zorah by Piero Lissoni

Rather than dominate the horizon with towering bulks, the Italian architect Piero Lissoni strung three low-slung volumes containing rooms, restaurants, a library and a yoga pavilion along the beach, their windows and perspectives oriented towards a winning trifecta of bone-white sand, Arabian Gulf and blue-domed sky.

Lissoni says the project’s greatest challenge was presented by Ajman’s extreme weather, which has had a profound influence on the local architecture. This explains why, for the Oberoi resort, he and his team worked hard ‘to limit the density of the built space, seeking to keep the volumes low and to just one level where appropriate. This is the first hotel we built in the area, so there was no existing infrastructure and very few points of reference. Integral to this approach was the active integration of the surrounding landscape of trees and greenery.’

Meanwhile, the interiors of the resort bear all the hallmarks of Lissoni’s predisposition towards a tasteful mix of textures, colours and touchstones, not least in his use of traditional materials, which are counterpointed by customised furniture alongside the occasional antique and objet trouvé.

No stranger to creating bijoux havens in difficult settings – his 2021 Shangri-La Shougang Park in Beijing comes to mind – Lissoni says he likes ‘the fact that we were able to realise an oasis whose silent architecture respects the setting of sea, saltwater lakes, mangrove forests and desert. We did not want these buildings to become barriers, attempting instead to create something that expressed a human scale. Each building dialogues in some way with the realities of water and nature.’

And if none of that impresses, there’s always the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

oberoihotels.com 

lissoniandpartners.com 

Pallavi Dean’s studio Roar and its UAE home for a local entrepreneur have made it into the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2022, our annual list of exciting emerging practices from across the globe.

Who: Roar

United Arab Emirates-based architecture and interior design studio Roar has been led by founder and creative director Pallavi Dean since 2013. Having worked internationally as a designer and lecturer, Dean brings an eclectic mix of influences to projects that span all scales and typologies. The studio combines freeform creativity with evidence-based methods in research, construction and design. 

The studio works across public, educational and residential spaces, as well as designing products such as lighting, seating and rugs. Partnerships – with Vitra and American Hardwood Export Council, amongst others – are sprinkled throughout its portfolio, demonstrating the wide range of opportunities that this creative team has embraced since its inception. The designs produced by Roar are both grand and refined. While the style of its projects may vary widely, depending on their respective use and needs, they are all cleanly finished and purposeful. Some are more minimalist, monochromatic spaces, while others use well-placed bursts of colour and eccentric fittings to achieve a distinctive identity, exhibiting Roar’s range and capacity. 

What: Anas Bukhash House

In 2020, Roar was approached for a ‘bat-cave’ in Al Barsha South in Dubai for Emirati entrepreneur Anas Bukhash. The resulting 400 sq m house feels warm and comfortable, while distinctly contemporary; it is furnished with plush sofas and bespoke seating, while maintaining an open feel thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. 

A series of glass-walled rooms reveals the house to the outside world, while a concrete patio, palm trees and bushes wrap around its perimeter. The greenery is a counterweight to the linear structure of the house; a monolithic concrete staircase sits in the middle of the property, from where black metal-edged glazing frames the leafy view beyond. Each element in Bukhash’s house is carefully selected to create a coherent, harmonious – if almost monochromatic – whole, as black ceiling panels run parallel with light fittings and the exterior of the house is made up of dark grey and white cubes. The interiors feature a mix of luxury furniture brands, such as Moroso, Vitra, Flos and Dada, and bespoke fittings. The presence of curved lines in the bathrooms contrasts with the rest of the house; cylindrical white sinks and a dramatic, concrete-effect porcelain bathtub fill the spaces, their freestanding forms adding to the sense of minimalism. 

Why: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2022

Conceived in 2000 as an international index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. While always championing the best and most promising young studios, over the years, the project has showcased inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 22nd edition. Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Paraguay, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.

INFORMATION

designbyroar.com

In partnership with aldar.com

The domed aluminium roof and white concrete cubes of the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi shimmer like a visiting spacecraft on the horizon. The architect’s desire to create a ‘total design’, a geometric structure and fluid, town-like environment that can never be seen in the same light twice is achieved with every shift in weather as well as the rising and setting of the sun. Now, the new Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences will offer the chance to live in close proximity to the iconic museum.

Aldar Properties, one of the UAE’s largest real estate development and asset management companies, working in partnership with Louvre Abu Dhabi, announced plans to develop the only branded residential complex in the world to carry the museum’s name. Scheduled for debut in early 2025 featuring distinct views, designs, spaces, amenities, and services, Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences will be located in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s Cultural District on Saadiyat Island, the highly anticipated Sadiyaat Grove – which is set to span an impressive area of 242,000 sq m.  

Life amid Saadiyat Island’s cultural hub

Bringing together different cultures through ancient and contemporary works of historical, artistic and sociological interest from around the world, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s opening in 2017 marked it as the Arab world’s first universal museum and a landmark cultural institution.

The museum’s spectacular Saadiyat Island location – currently in the second phase of its ambitious, £20bn, 15-year-long development journey – is rapidly growing into a vibrant cultural hub home to five major museums, an art and culture centre as well as a performing arts centre.

Soon joining Nouvel’s ingenious Louvre Abu Dhabi will be iconic cultural landmarks such as Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Abrahamic Family House, and the much-anticipated Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi; all contributing to a smart-growth project designed to encourage artistic exchange and creative expression for the whole region.

Saadiyat Cultural District is also a wonderful place to live and work. Nestled in the midst of all its cultural and architectural splendour is Saadiyat Grove, comprising immersive retail, entertainment and leisure spaces, as well as approximately 3,000 residential units, two hotels, and grade-A office and co-working spaces for new enterprises and start-ups. Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences will be the latest addition.

Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences in Saadiyat Grove

Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences will feature 400 properties – spanning studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and five exclusive penthouses. The development will also offer a residents-only lounge, a 12-seater private cinema and a world-class wellness centre with a gym and sauna rooms, multi-use spaces for yoga and meditation. From its elevated swimming pools, sunset deck and gardens, residents will enjoy uninterrupted views of Louvre Abu Dhabi and the city’s skyline.

Meticulously designed for distinction and sophistication, every apartment at Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences will be finished with interior fittings and fixtures and built-in home appliances from world-renowned brands. The residential experience will be elevated by five-star services including a concierge to organise private fine dining, for example, as well as professional housekeeping, personal styling, personal shopping, pet-sitting and dog-walking.

Alongside artistic and architectural marvels, Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island will now be home to a new residential wonder.

Abu Dhabi: a viable investment market for all

To continually enable sustained economic development, the UAE government diversified its economy, developing tourism, manufacturing, and industrial sectors, creating an investor-friendly environment and multiplying revenue streams. Real estate freehold zones and a flexible taxation system offer value for investors and homebuyers from around the world.

Based on the category of their investment, real estate investors can also benefit by qualifying for the UAE Golden Visa – a long-term residency system introduced in 2019 that enables foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE, without the need of a national sponsor. In addition, five to ten-year Golden Visa holders can now enjoy special benefits such as discounts on housing, healthcare, hospitality, automotive and banking in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi was ranked as the safest city in the world for the sixth consecutive year (Numbeo Safety Index 2022), and recognised as the most liveable city in the Middle East for the second year in a row (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2021).

INFORMATION

Sales at Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences are limited to select units. Clients may express their interest by registering on aldar.com or via Aldar’s sales centre (tel: +971 2 810 6400 or email: customermanagement@aldar.com)

Dubai’s rapidly growing economy has generated a new wave of opportunities and has had a direct knock-on effect on the local property market, with interior design one of many industries to benefit from this boom.

Downtown Design (9 – 12 November 2022) is the destination in the region for high-quality, contemporary design and attracts leading design professionals, industry decision-makers and buyers from the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and beyond. Now in its ninth year, the fair has established itself as the Middle East’s leading design event, its popularity – enhanced by sister event Art Dubai and a growing affluent audience – bolstering the already surging local design sector.

Brands, manufacturers, studios and individual designers from around the world participate in Downtown Design to gain commercial opportunity, enhance their visibility and brand awareness in the market, while accessing the most relevant audiences.

At the 2022 fair, major global names such as Cosentino, Fritz Hansen, Lasvit, Minotti and Pedrali will be exhibiting creative showcases and latest collections. CC-Tapis will unveil an exclusive collection of hand-knotted rugs by multidisciplinary designer Bethan Laura Wood, presented by Iwan Maktabi; Lutron is staging an interactive experience with architectural lighting; and VitrA will launch its collaboration with Tom Dixon in the Middle East. Parisian design gallery Anne Jacquemin Sablon will present pieces by interior designer Tristan Auer, among others; and Colombian textile studio Verdi is returning with a showcase of handcrafted pieces of rare natural fibres woven with metals.

In the fair’s section dedicated to limited-edition design, Downtown Editions, renowned design gallery House of Today is showcasing works by Lebanese creatives Stephanie Moussallem and Roula Salamoun among others; emerging Emirati designer Omar Al Gurg will reveal a solo showcase of his brand Modu Method; and Kuwaiti designer Meshary AlNassar will present new collectible pieces using natural materials.

Visitors can also discover a curated selection of collectible design and craft pieces in dedicated exhibits from Egypt, Jordan and Uganda.

Alongside a week-long line-up of engaging talks and masterclasses, networking events and guided tours, this year’s edition of the fair will host a number of new features, including new programmes catering to specific audience categories and based on interests; an ambitious sustainability plan; and the main champagne lounge hosted by Veuve Clicquot, celebrating the maison’s 250th anniversary.

Downtown Design takes place from 9 – 12 November 2022 as the headline commercial event of Dubai Design Week, in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3). For more information on Downtown Design 2022, visit downtowndesign.com

Looking at it peeking through the Dubai skyline, it feels clear that the Museum of the Future was not designed to be subtle; rather, it was designed to celebrate and shout about human achievement and the innovation that guides humankind into the future. Housed in a suitably eye-catching building, rounded, gleaming and adorned with Arabic calligraphic inscriptions, this new cultural destination in the UAE turns the idea of a museum on its head. Instead of being a home for historical artefacts, it is an experimental space, hailed as a hub to inspire the future of humanity. The brainchild of the Dubai Future Foundation and architect Shaun Killa of Killa Design, the project will house a permanent exhibition of human technology and creative thinking; and it opens its doors to the public today (22 February 2022). 

The building was conceived by Killa ‘as an architectural and cultural icon’, and it's true that its striking, shimmering volume is as memorable as it is dramatic. The architect composed its flowing form using computer-aided design, harnessing state-of-the-art technology in volume shaping and futuristic visions of architecture to achieve his goal. The result is an impressive 77m high, seven-storey toroidal structure built without using a single column. 

Museum of the Future

The glistening structure is clad in stainless steel panels manufactured by robots that produced the pattern that makes up its skin – lines of Arabic calligraphy representing three quotes on the future by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai. These say: ‘We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone’; ‘The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create'; and ‘Innovation is not an intellectual luxury. It is the secret behind the evolution and rejuvenation of nations and peoples’.

Made using technologically advanced building methods, the Museum of the Future also employs modern sustainable architecture strategies, such as solar power (the structure is powered through its own dedicated solar park). Inside, a multipurpose hall sits at the core of the building, surrounded by further spaces including a lecture hall, innovation laboratories for health, education, smart cities, energy and transportation, and permanent exhibition areas. 

‘The Museum of the Future is a “living museum”, constantly adapting and metamorphosing as its very environment drives continual and iterative change to its exhibits and attractions,’ says Mohammed Al Gergawi, UAE minister for cabinet affairs and chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation. ‘The museum brings together futurists, thinkers, innovators and the public in a testbed of ideas that define the world of the future and shape the way we interact with our world to come.’ 

INFORMATION

killadesign.com

Dubai’s first permanent collectible design gallery and digital design platform, Gallery Collectional, has opened its doors during Dubai Design Week. The space, located in Dubai’s Eden House complex, is launching with the inaugural show, ‘The Shape of Things to Come’.

The first collectible design gallery in Dubai

The new gallery is the brainchild of luxury developer H&H, and offers both a curation of pieces and also the opportunity to connect customers keen for bespoke projects with designers and manufacturers, as well as sourcing rarer, one-off pieces. For Gallery Collectional creative director Catalina Ruiz Urquiola, the new space is a chance to take a closer look at the work of individual designers. In the ‘Shape of Things to Come’, new works by independent designers are presented alongside those of more established design houses in a thoughtful showcase that considers the dialogue between function and aestheticism.

‘The name of the exhibition is inspired by the objects, all of which have strong and dynamic shapes that push the boundaries of form,’ says Ruiz Urquiola. ‘The name also represents the beginning of a long journey for the gallery and refers to the possibilities that design presents to shape the future of the dynamic city of Dubai and the anticipation for what is to come.’

Debuting ‘Mirage’ mirrors by Sabine Marcelis

Sabine Marcelis’ new collection, ‘Mirage’, plays an integral role in the exhibition. Commissioned exclusively for the gallery and inspired by Dubai, it marks the designer’s first time exploring the possibilities of light through mirrors, with the warmth of the desert reflected in rich and vivid hues.

The collection joins other works by emerging and established designers from around the world, including Michael Anastassiades, Dimoremilano, CC Tapis, Ewe Studio, Kooij, and Alexander Lamont, who are contributing both exclusive and limited-edition pieces. ‘The exhibition champions modern craftsmanship – bringing together time-honoured skills, new technologies and innovative materials,’ adds Ruiz Urquiola. ‘Whilst our first exhibition brings together global designers, plans are already underway to work with local talent on championing collectible design coming from the region.’

INFORMATION 

thecollectional.com

ADDRESS

Eden House
Al Satwa
Dubai

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

There’s a cultural moment heating up in the Gulf. Fashion house Valentino recently ventured east to take part in cultural exchange Qatar Creates in Doha, where new cultural hub M7 just landed, and a Virgil Abloh retrospective has launched at Qatar Museums. Meanwhile in Dubai, Dior celebrated the opening of a new boutique right on Jumeirah beach, and let‘s not forget the postponed Expo 2020 Dubai that will continue to draw in an international audience until spring next year. The start of Dubai Design Week should now take things to sizzling point.

So what does Dubai Design Week bring? Now in its seventh year, there is a steer to make the programme appealing for all. ‘Dubai Design Week is a free-to-attend event and we ensure that there are activities for all levels of experiences, skills and ages,’ says director of Dubai Design Week, Mette Degn-Christensen. With plenty of initiatives supporting local communities, addressing the constant architectural evolution of the city, and promoting the next generation, there’s an underpinning aim to give creatives from the Persian Gulf a global stage in what Degn-Christensen calls the ‘creative capital of the region’.

Dubai Design Week highlights

The Beirut Concept Store

Last year saw a tough moment for the Beirut creative scene, with the August 2020 explosion taking down many studios and spaces in the city. Following this, support poured in from the industry, and it hasn’t stopped. For Dubai Design Week, 50 established and emerging Lebanese creatives get a moment in the spotlight at The Beirut Concept Store in Dubai Design District (D3). Curated by Mariana Wehbe, The Beirut Concept Store will showcase a wide range of creative fields, including ceramics to collectible design. Included are works by Borgi Bastormagi, Atelier Nadeen, Nathalie Khayat, Souraya Haddad, and Marylynn and Carlo Massoud, plus works from new creative platform Exil Collective that aims to promote budget-conscious designs that are made locally.

‘Nature in Motion’ Abwab by Ahmed El-Sharabassy

Abwab (translating as ‘door’) is an annual feature of Dubai Design Week that supports talent from the MENASA region, and features pavilions that respond to themes such as human senses and socio-political barriers. Fittingly for this pandemic recovery year, the inspiration for Abwab is regenerative architecture and restorative design. For this, Dubai-based Egyptian architect Ahmed El-Sharabassy’s winning installation alludes to the local ecosystem: the desert's constant motion and the city’s transforming architectural landscape. Under the lightweight canopy that is made using recyclable, sustainable materials, the public can gather and enjoy an exhibition that also engages with the topic of regenerative architecture.

Global Grad Show and MENA Grad Show

Innovation and the power of design thinking often come from bright young talents, and each year Global Grad Show highlights this. For 2020, a spin-off concept, MENA Grad Show, was launched for locally curated projects from the Middle East and North Africa. While Global Grad Show 2021 features its products digitally from over 470 institutions, MENA has a physical display – ‘We are always looking to generate further awareness of design and creativity as a tool for solutions, and that presents opportunities for UAE-based and regional designers,’ says Degn-Christensen of having graduate shows as a pillar of Dubai Design Week. Included in MENA Grad Show’s 60 projects is ‘Sleeye’ by Farzaneh Mangelian & Zahra Ghiasi from Tehran University of Art. Using short-wavelength blue light, the product aims to boost sleep and minimise daytime dysfunction in blind or partially sighted people, and essentially improve life quality.

‘Context Reflections’ by Anarchitect and Cosentino

Taking centre stage inside the D3, this installation shows the possibilities of Cosentino’s first ever carbon-neutral surface, ‘Sunlit Days’. Using the warm Dubai glow as a third collaborator, Anarchitect has realised a low-tech edifice that shows the importance of natural light to visitors, who can enter the space and enjoy the optical performance of light play in architecture.

2040: d3 Architecture Exhibition 

For a city that is ever changing, how do we predict what Dubai will look like in 20 years? This was the task for five architectural firms in this multimedia showcase. Aligning with The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan for a sustainable urban development, these concepts focus on being human-centric, with the practices, Beyrac Architects, Dabbagh Architects, MEAN (Middle East Architecture Network), RMJM Dubai, and Tariq Khayyat Design Partners, responding to four themes: Mobility and Transportation, Public and Recreational Spaces, Accessibility to Infrastructure, and Eco-Tourism.

INFORMATION

Dubai Design Week runs from 8 to 13 Novebmer 2021
dubaidesignweek.ae

ADDRESS

Dubai Design District

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Unsurprisingly, it has been a slow couple of years for global gatherings and international travel, but the tail end of 2021 brings with it a hint of optimism and a shy promise of better times – at least in some parts of the world. And right on cue, Expo 2020 Dubai has just opened – one year on from its original launch date, which was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic. Still, this has not dampened the participants’ enthusiasm as representatives from across the globe are looking to the UAE for this month’s inauguration, taking part in events in architectural pavilions and shows that are set to last till spring 2022.

This year's agenda is rich and varied, addressing key global concerns surrounding sustainable approaches; the future of transport and travel; and innovative takes for what's to come, from exciting new ideas to activities for young people and communities. The Expo 2020 Dubai site is arranged accordingly, in three main areas, each of which features a flagship pavilion to best project the district's core message. A structure named Terra, designed by Grimshaw Architects, headlines the Sustainability section; Foster + Partners has spearheaded Mobility; and Kuwait-based AGi Architects is behind the Opportunity Pavilion. 

Around them, some 190 country pavilions fight for the attention of visitors, as part of the Expo’s national participations. The Thematic District, designed by Hopkins Architects, connects all three aforementioned sections, as well as the various country pavilions together. This is an architectural extravaganza to impress and inspire. 

Expo 2020 Dubai main district pavilions

Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion

Designed by the British architecture practice Grimshaw Architects to highlight ingenuity and different strategies in the field of sustainability, this pavilion loosely resembles flowers or leaves turned up towards the sun. Indeed, the design team drew inspiration from natural processes, such as photosynthesis, to compose their piece. And the approach is not only reflected in its looks. The pavilion captures energy from sunlight ,and fresh water from humid air, aiming to demonstrate a new way of living sustainably. 

Alif – The Mobility Pavilion 

From Earth-bound vehicles to space exploration, this is the pavilion dedicated to all things mobile. Transport and technology on all levels come together in a space designed by Foster + Partners – a pavilion named Alif (after the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, symbolizing new beginnings, explain the architects). ‘This is the third World Expo that we have been involved in; the two previous were in Shanghai and Milan. These events are incredible opportunities to showcase innovation from around the world. Similarly, Alif – The Mobility Pavilion conveys new ideas of mobility in a simple, yet thought-provoking and engaging manner, as we look towards the future of Dubai and the UAE in its aspirations, its technology and its investment,’ says Gerard Evenden, head of studio at Foster + Partners. 

Mission Possible – The Opportunity Pavilion

Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea and Nasser Abulhasan, principals and founding partners of AGi Architects, led the design of the Opportunity Pavilion, which is fittingly named ‘Mission Possible’. While other pavilions focus on strategies, systems and objects that can help us change our future for the better, this district's mission is more orientated towards the human element. Celebrating the role that young people and communities have to play in making positive change, the structure is designed as a place of gathering, a public space for everybody to come together, focusing on collaboration and coexistence. 

Thematic District

Bringing together the three main pavilions detailed above, as well as their wider sections and the national pavilions, the Thematic District has been masterplanned by Hopkins Architects. More of a wider landscape than a pavilion itself, this design was inspired by the traditional architecture of the Al Fahidi District in old Dubai, also drawing on the region's climate and colours. Around it, Mobility, Opportunity and Sustainability fan out in petal-shaped succession at the very heart of the Expo site. 

Touring some of the Expo 2020 Dubai country pavilions

Italian Pavilion

Designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota Building Office, with Matteo Gatto and F&M Ingegneria, the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai looks at reconfigurable architecture and circular design. Its façade is made of two million recycled plastic bottles, while the rest of the structure features innovative materials, such as algae, coffee grounds, orange peel and sand. ‘Our design for the Italian Pavilion deals with what I believe is architecture’s most important challenge today: advancing the double convergence between the natural and the artificial. It anticipates issues and suggests strategies that will be increasingly crucial for the future of our cities as we address the consequences of the current climate crisis,’ says Ratti, who is also director of the MIT Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ‘The pavilion keeps mutating into different forms. It speaks about reconfigurability both in the long term, because of its circularity, and in the short term, thanks to its use of digital technologies.’

Brazilian Pavilion

Within a fairly simple and straightforward pavilion design, visitors to the Brazilian Pavilion are set to get immersed in lush Brazilian landscapes, through clever projection mapping technologies. The piece is created by multidisciplinary design studio Cactus and features a  360-degree experience, inspired by nature and its potential. ‘We want the world to see and feel the beauty and intricacies of the country we call home,' says Marcelo Pontes, head of architecture for Cactus. ‘The process of achieving seamless user experience requires good design at its core. There were many technical roadblocks, including regional weather, sand, and heat, that made this project more difficult than anything else we have taken on before. Unlike traditional immersive experiences, which only focus on projection mapping inside spaces, we were designing for the entire exterior of the exhibit as well.'

Canadian Pavilion

The Canadian Pavilion features a creative installation by KANVA. The art piece, called Traces, is a ‘poetic vision of an uncertain future and a reflection upon our present'. The piece was specifically designed to create a sense of urgency around climate change. ‘The concept for Traces began with the location of the Canada Pavilion in the sustainability section of the Expo grounds, and with the main exhibition being inspired by Canadian landscapes and natural diversity,' says Rami Bebawi, a KANVA partner and lead architect of the Traces project. ‘We wanted to create something that would emphasize the threats that climate change and global warming pose to those same landscapes, and more specifically, to the species that inhabit them.'

Finnish Pavilion

JKMM Architects is behind the Finnish Pavilion. ‘In designing the pavilion, we sought to bring a fragment of Finnish nature to UAE and Dubai,' says JKMM's Teemu Kurkela, who explains that it is titled Lumi, meaning ‘snow’ in Finnish. ‘The pavilion was inspired by the thin white layer of first snow that covers the Finnish landscape at the beginning of winter. The main entrance was inspired by a traditional Arabic tent. Two cultures meet in the architectural concept of the pavilion. Hopefully, this will be the best space in Expo for meeting face to face.' Sustainability was taken very seriously in the construction of the pavilion too. With very few exceptions, all materials and labour were sourced locally. 

Moroccan Pavilion

Architects OUALALOU + CHOI are bringing traditional Moroccan building methods to Dubai with their pavilion. The building feature a 4,000 sq m rammed-earth façade – impressively, the largest of its kind. The structure comprises 22 stacked rectangular volumes that draw on the vernacular rammed-earth villages of Morocco. They are all connected by a continuous ‘inner street’. 

Qatar Pavilion

Renowned architect Santiago Calatrava is behind the design for the Qatar Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. The architecture draws on the four elements represented on the coat of arms of Qatar, the architect explains: ‘two crossed and curved swords, encompassing a dhow and island with palm trees'. He continues: ‘Inspiration is derived from Qatar’s national emblem to truly capture the essence and vision of the nation. The architectural gesture and structural form of the pavilion, which houses the entire visitor experience, mirrors the shape of the dhow and its grand sails. The sculptural monument at the entrance of the pavilion represents an abstract translation and fusion of two intertwined palm trees, while the reflective pools and integrated water features surrounding the pavilion represent the Arabian Gulf, which encompasses the nation of Qatar.'

UAE Pavilion 

Santiago Calatrava also designed the UAE Pavilion. ‘We are honoured to unveil the UAE Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. The design emulates a falcon in flight, symbolic to the country, and is rooted in UAE’s local rich history and cultural heritage,' says the architect. The falcon is the national bird of the UAE, and the design pays homage to the region's heritage and traditions. The pavilion's wing-like roof elements seem to defy gravity. 

UK Pavilion

The UK Pavilion, titled Poem Pavilion, was created by leading artist and designer Es Devlin. Working closely with structural engineers Atelier One, environmental design consultants Atelier Ten, executive architects Veretec and creative agency Avantgarde, Devlin became the first woman to design the UK Pavilion since the Expo's inception. The design offers a take on machine-generated poetry, in architectural form. ‘Algorithms are among us, they are an ever-growing part of our culture, their output is based on what they are trained on and who trains them,' says Devlin. ‘The pavilion is at once an expression of the ideal of a culturally diverse Britain that I grew up with, tempered with our growing awareness of the part algorithms play in shaping the future of our culture.'

Dutch Pavilion

The design for the Dutch Pavilion, created by V8 Architects, elaborates on the climate crisis by proposing a temporary circular climate system, ‘a biotope in the desert, with a unique sensory experience'. There are organic, transparent solar cells to provide energy for the structure; a special technology that extracts water from the desert for the pavilion's needs; an 18m-high green cone that demonstrates how oyster mushrooms can grow naturally in a desert land; and more features by, for example, the likes of designer Marjan van Aubel and Amsterdam-based Buro Belén.

Japan Pavilion

Japan’s pavilion celebrates the Asian nation's traditional origami techniques and shapes. The building has been designed by Yuko Nagayama/NTT Facilities and aims to blend traditional Arabesque and Asanoha (hemp leaf) patterns, while also featuring a restaurant for visitors. 

Saudi Arabian Pavilion

This eye-catching design is the brainchild of Boris Micka Associates. Not only is the structure the second largest pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site (the pavilion spans an area of 13,059 sq m), it also boasts an impressive façade that draws the eye with its intricate, colourful patterns. More than just a pretty face, this is also a fully LEED Platinum Certified pavilion. 

Swiss Pavilion

In a bold move, Zurich-based architecture studio OOS covered the Swiss Pavilion in reflective cladding, creating a giant mirror at the Expo site. The pavilion is fittingly titled Reflections. Featuring a red carpet that leads the visitor up to the front entrance, the building's shape was inspired by Bedouin tents. 

Australian Pavilion

One more eye-catching structure, this time courtesy of the Australian participation. The pavilion was created by Brisbane-based architecture firm Bureau^proberts. The intricate design is composed of a ‘cloud' of vertical aluminium panels that hover above a plinth made of timber. The piece ‘encapsulates Australian optimism and creativity and celebrates Australian diversity and collaboration’.

INFORMATION

expo2020dubai.com

The Africa Institute has commissioned David Adjaye and Adjaye Associates for its new, state-of-the-art building in Sharjah, UAE, and the designs have just been revealed. Dominated by strong geometric volumes in soft pink hues, the new Africa Institute is set to become a key centre for the study, research and documentation of Africa and the African diaspora in the Arab world. 

The institute’s new campus, spearheaded by its director Salah M Hassan and president Hoor Al Qasimi, was conceived to be multifunctional and multi-faceted, supporting the busy organisation’s many activities – including international symposia and conferences, art exhibitions, commissions, film, performances, and a higher education programme set to roll out from 2023, alongside a varied public programme. First conceived in 1976 as part of the Symposium on African and Arab Relations, the Africa Institute has been housed up till now in the Africa Hall, a building on site that will be incorporated into the Adjaye Associates scheme.

All activities will be located within the colourful design’s four wings, all of which are united by a series of open-air interior courtyards and architectural gardens. The colours and volume arrangement of the structure responds to the region’s land and climatic needs, explains Adjaye. Large overhangs and shaded open-air spaces featuring water elements and planting are designed to ‘enhance the desert typology' and work with the needs of the natural context. Meanwhile, open entryways connect the site with the urban surroundings. 

‘I am deeply humbled for the opportunity to design The Africa Institute in Sharjah, a project that introduces an entirely new type of thinking and mission into the global academic arena,’ says Adjaye. ‘I envision the new campus as a springboard for the concretisation of the incredible history of Africa, the African diaspora, and the Arab world.’

The new building, finely tuned to support this important institution for critical thinkers in its field, is currently scheduled for completion in 2023.

INFORMATION

adjaye.com

Earlier in 2021, Adidas comissioned a YouGov survey in the United Arab Emirates, which found that only 12 per cent of women are entirely at ease wearing a swimsuit at a public beach or pool. In June, the German sportswear behemoth launched its first full-cover swimwear collection for women, an 18-piece offering of technical, modest pieces, which includes long-sleeve tops, lightweight hijab and trousers, accented with Adidas' signature triple-stripe motif.

In celebration of Adidas' inclusive milestone, which reinforces its commitment to making sport as diverse a playing field as possible, the brand pitched up on a popular Dubai beach, erecting the first interative liquid billboard in the sand, where female beachgoers could make a splash, and not only take in, but become part of its ‘Beyond the Surface' campaign.

Dive into the deep blue depths of Adidas’ liquid billboard

Adidas’ immersive billboard, 5m high and 3m in depth, and formed from reinforced transparent acrylic, took three weeks to erect. The water-filled wonder invited the women of Dubai to take a public leap of faith into the pool, where they could dive into its blue depths. Those who made a splash included Adidas ambassador and amputee triathlete Dareen Barbar, who is also a Guinness World Record holder (for the longest static wall sit), plus Adidas ambassador Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi Arabian female to climb Mount Everest.

In an amplification of the event, footage surrounding the digital screen was projected onto a digital screen above the Dubai Mall Ice Rink, allowing shoppers and residents to take in the liberating dives and jumps.

‘Our belief is that nobody should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of being in and around the water, hence the recent launch of our diversified product offering for all women,' says Amrith Gopinath, senior brand director of Adidas GCC, of the brand's inclusive swimwear launch and subsequent immersive activation. Adidas' liquid billboard represents a symbolic swim in the right direction.

INFORMATION

adidas.co.uk

The Global Grad Show is always a true demonstration of the power of design. This year’s entries reveal how our world can be more resilient and responsible through the use of education, technology, architecture and more. Submissions poured in from 270 universities from 60 nations and five continents this year, and the results are on view for Dubai Design Week in a virtual showcase.

Plenty of tech tools are highlighted in this year’s roster: from a device that simulates human touch to one that monitors women’s reproductive health. Meanwhile, Chiara Rossi from Lund University has realised a small weeding robot that allows organic farmers to increase soil health via an app.

The students in this year’s show hail from universities that span Huddersfield, UK to Auckland, New Zealand. Tadeu Baldani Caravieri director of Global Grad Shows says the project supports students in three ways. ‘We showcase their innovations, we create knowledge exchange opportunities, and an entrepreneurship programme.’ To break down the 100 designs, Global Grad Show is divided into five themes of Living with Illness and Disability; Coping in a Complex World; Saving and Protecting Vulnerable Lives; Cleaning a Waste Filled Planet, and Sustaining the Urban Experience.

While realising solutions, many projects rethink conventional design styles, like Sense Glucosse Earrings by Tyra Kozlow, which aims to change the way in which patients interact with diabetes. The non-invasive blood glucose monitor can be used like an earring, without the need for a blood sample, and therefore reducing waste. Instead, the portable piece uses radio-waves to generate the data. Sense Glucose Earring eschews the look of medical testing kits, appearing like rechargeable earphones.

Other notable wearables come by way of Cammino by Chiara Rossi, a system that prevents the risk of falls for the elderly that are suffering from Parkinson’s disease with a bluetooth system inside the shoe. ‘Freezing from gait is one of the most frustrating and dehabiliting symptoms of  Parkinson’s…my product will limited the number of freezing episodes using technology,’ says Rossi of her design in a video on the Global Grad Show website.

‘Water is a basic human need,’ says Harleen Kaur from Pearl Academy in New Delhi when discussing the inspiration behind her water container that can be transported like a suitcase on wheels. Jal Saath’s compact and flat shape allows it to travel through small, rural areas that may be struggling with access to clean water, a fix for heavier, less portable carriers. ‘A lot of the people who are responsible for getting water for their families include children, so it gets difficult to transport large quantities on a daily basis.’

Encouraging the wellbeing of our mental health is Pause Pillow by Wonmo Yoo and HyunYeol Shin, a product that interrupts WiFi signal when you lie on it, so that accessibility to the internet and social media is inhibited for a better sleep. Elsewhere, Alhaan Ahmed’s Aibo lamp an apt solution for this year’s elongated isolation periods as it communicates signals for those living alone who cannot interact with their neighbours but may require assistance.

Trailblazing and inspiring, the sixth edition of Global Grad Show allows us to appreciate the growth and talent of young imagination even more in a year when we are faced with more challenges than ever. 

INFORMATION

globalgradshow.com

Dubai Design Week commissioned Iraqi-born designer Hozan Zangana to create an outdoors installation for the Arab Emirate’s design district. Titled ‘Fata Morgana’, the installation was conceived by long-term collaborator, Luuk Disveld of Generous Studio, and produced in Amsterdam by Joseph Crickett of WoodCast Designs.

The name of the project was inspired by the optical effect that commonly occurs in the desert or at sea, a visual mirage appearing on the horizon and traditionally thought to be linked to witchcraft. Zangana’s design recreates this effect with shiny copper and rammed earth, using a modern equivalent of the ancient Atuba building technique and sand inspired by locally available materials. ‘For the viewer, the installation might resemble something of a Fata Morgana, with the universal human curiosity we hope to invite people to closer inspect and discover it for themselves, and come together to experience a space designed for reflection and interaction,’ says Zangana.

Based in the Netherlands, Zangana works intuitively (‘Shaping from Intuition' also being the title of an early collection he created), his shapes are often abstract and inspired by language, tradition and rituals.

For this project, Zangana asked himself: ‘How can we (re)connect culture, history and people in a public space?’ The multi-purpose installation responds to is based on a modular system and features a circle of seven pillars, each representing an Emirate, with different elements designed for public seating. A central plinth anchors the space, and a structure that, according to Zangana, ‘highlights the cultural context of the installation. The intersections between the elements demand a blend of cultural meetings and line of sights, becoming an opportunity for conversation between strangers.’

Each pillar in the installation features a layered design, with each layer representing materials from a specific Emirate. The choice of materials and manufacturing methods and materials was based on a ‘responsible and sustainable design approach, in which the production process is a key to its visual appearance.’

The Covid-19 pandemic was on Zangana’s mind while designing the installation, which was created with social-distancing in mind. ‘Our installation provides a safe public space where people can sit down and facing each other at a safe distance,’ he observes. ‘We hope this will inspire them to start connecting with each other.’

INFORMATION

generous.studio/fatamorgana

ADDRESS

Dubai Design District
Dubai
United Arab Emirates

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The ‘Flying Saucer' is one of Sharjah's key Brutalist architecture landmarks. The round, striking building, which was originally constructed in the 1970s and opened in 1978 as a mixed use structure, was acquired by the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) in 2012. Then in a state of disrepair, it has now been given a new lease of life through a thorough renovation by the foundation and architect Mona El Mousfy of SpaceContinuum Design Studio. 

While the structure was originally conceived to house a one-stop-shop restaurant, newsstand, tobacconist, gift shop, patisserie and delicatessen, after the restoration and redesign, the Flying Saucer is reimagined as an art and community space with a café, library, courtyard and activity spaces. 

Flagging up the region's rich architectural history and weaving through to today via a contemporary culture programme, while connecting and engaging with the local community, the project will continue to be used as a SAF venue (it has been used as such since 2015).

‘The Flying Saucer has been beloved by generations of Sharjah residents since its opening in the late 1970s. It was important that we not only preserve its characteristic structure but also restore it for our community as a space for convening, learning and creating,' says HoorAl Qasimi, SAF director. ‘While preserving the original building’s distinctive qualities, the project also adds a new layer of vibrancy to the space and allows us to better engage with communities across the emirate—an ethos that guides all of the Foundation’s architectural and historic preservation work.'

The Flying Saucer has just reopened to the public with a new site-specific, multi-media installation, ‘Nowhere Less Now 3 [flying saucer]' , by Lindsay Seers and Keith Sargent, who responded with their art ‘to the building’s space-age architecture'.

INFORMATION

sharjahart.org

Dubai’s MO has long been to upsize every quotidian experience; whether to create the world’s biggest mall or an artificial island that’s visible from space.

Little surprise then that even the ideal of the traditional speakeasy as a small cozy affair has now been turned on its head. For Toronto-based Studio Paolo Ferrari, the visual references splice Rome’s Villa Farnese, the final Louis XIV-esque bedroom scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago.

The result is an unapologetically theatrical set-piece in which clear cast resin tables, 1960s furnishings, and smoked oak panels flank a bronze-hued fiberglass bar whose sinuous curves recall both Dali and Zaha Hadid. The bathrooms, lined with glass floors and mirrored walls, are attention grabbers – though, perhaps, not as much as the hidden doors in the main room that swing open for VIPs to literally drive into the speakeasy directly from the carpark.

INFORMATION
Website

ADDRESS

Basement, Five Palm Jumeirah Hotel
No. 1 Palm Jumeirah
Dubai

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The white, clean, structured minimalism of the newly completed Residence 22 in Dubai makes it stand out clearly within its context of glass-clad office towers. Located in Business Bay, adjacent to the Business canal, this 20 storey residential structure is the work of UAE architecture studio dxb.lab. 

The architects, headed by founder and principle director Khalid Al Najjar, were a fairly young, dynamic studio out of Dubai when we first covered their work, over 13 years ago, in the 2007 Architects Directory. Now, the firm is prolific, producing from houses to large scale commercial work, skyscrapers and cultural projects. Residence 22 is just one of several recent completions, which include a farm villa in the region and the Al Hamriyah Studios for the renowned Sharjah Art Foundation. 

For this housing scheme, Al Najjar and his team wanted to create something different for their client, who had requested a design that ‘has not been done' before, offering something new to the local market. The architects' response was to start by asking themselves ‘how a residential building can have its own identity' that is different to its surroundings or the wider typology, and ‘how can we make a timeless yet contemporary piece of architecture.'

The solution presented itself through a clean, deceptively simple design with a fairly austere facade that is based on a slim grid of columns and rectangular openings. This lattice structure, as well as the design's purity in shapes and materials (the exterior is simple painted plaster over cast in-situ concrete), defines the project's striking aesthetics. 

Recessed glazing provides a degree of natural shading in a region where the heat can be intense. The ground floor lobby leads to a private plaza finished in travertine stone cladding. Inside, out of the 22 apartments, 19 occupy a whole floor, allowing ample living space for residents and a rare penthouse-feel in almost every unit.

Housing plays a key part in the studio's growing portfolio. ‘We have recently done several other residential buildings,' the architects explain. ‘Another one of them is currently under construction and shall be completed by end of the year. Each of them is different but yet they all share certain references, and draw on our past work as well as other architecture.'

MORE FROM WALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY 2020

INFORMATION

dxb-lab.com

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial is the first major architectural platform for the Global South and aims to stimulate a unique dialogue on architecture and urbanism for countries in the Middle East, North and East Africa and South and Southeast Asia. It was founded by the late Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, who set up the Sharjah Urban Planning Council in 2014, and Adrian Lahoud, Dean of the School of Architecture at London’s Royal College of Art, took the curatorial lead for its inaugural edition in the emirate, which runs until February 2020.

At the heart of the debate is how received wisdom about urban development and its relationship with the environment is being forced on future generations when different solutions need to be sought in the light of the way we now live as well as new challenges such as climate change. Taking as its subject ‘Rights of Future Generations’, the triennial investigates the established top-down approach to decision-making and how present decisions have long-term consequences; to rethink fundamental questions about architecture and its power to create alternative modes of existence.

Situated on both the Gulf and Indian Ocean coasts, Sharjah is at the crossroads of culture and commerce. Hoor Al Qasimi, chairperson of the triennal, says: ‘When people think of architecture in the Gulf, they often picture empty high-rise buildings in the middle of the desert. Yet Sharjah has always held in its character an attachment to the various layers of its history, with a focus on the protection of material heritage.’ With such conservation in mind, 15 buildings have already been identified in the past years and are being renovated. Two of them, fine examples of the 1970s and ’80s architecture in the region, Al-Qasimiyah School and the old Al Jubail Fruit and Vegetable Market are taken as the Triennale’s primary venues.

The interdisciplinary conversation the triennal initiated is entrusted to generate new and long-lasting discussions about the future of Sharjah. ‘We invited stakeholders and policymakers to join the board, so that all the conversations generated could be shared with them. In turn, they will provide feedback and help to facilitate future projects,’ Al Qasimi says.

Paris-based Lina Ghotmeh and New York-based L.E.FT, both Lebanese companies, Kuwait and Bahrain-based Civil Architecture and Bangkok-based all(zone) have been invited to examine the current state of Sharjah’s housing, schooling and environment and make proposals for their future advancement. Ghotmeh’s Inclusive Living suggests the reintroduction and rejuvenation of Sharjah’s urban courtyard forms which had given way to isolating apartment blocks. All(zone)’s Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun questioned the UAE’s vast air-conditioned buildings that separate people from the natural environment. Its resulting design is a floating fabric roof structure that employs the principle of passive cooling to create a transitional climatic space.  

Many of the show’s 35 projects commissioned by the triennial involve professionals in fields outside of architecture but who deal with other diverse aspects of life that make up our communities. Depth Unknown is an archaeological  project in Sebastia, Palestine by native architect Dima Srouji, sound artist Dirar Kalash, archaeologist and anthropologist Silvia Truini, and anthropologist Nadia Abu El-Haj. By using sonic technology to monitor and resist the ever-shifting terrain and how this affects the movement of the archaeological fragments found there, to document the area both as an archaeological site and a living city.

Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum’s Inheriting Wetness examines the continuous and unstable interplay of erosion and accretion for the resident Bengalis and how adaptation to instability might be the Ganges Delta inhabitants' best strategy in a time of increased environmental uncertainty. Platforms by Italian duo Dogma looks at the use of platforms as an architectural element that is common to many civilisations, not only as a symbol of power, but also as a gathering place, and reinterprets this feature as a political construct, presented in 24 drawings, a book and a site-specific intervention built in the centre of Sharjah.

INFORMATION

sharjaharchitecture.org

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is celebrating the exterior completion of Opus, the Omiyat mixed-used development in Dubai. Found in the vicinity of the city's Burj Khalifa district, the Opus building offers a strking new view from every angle, appearing to morph and shift within its own abstract cube outline.

A central free-form void defines the overall building's shape, dividing it into two towers. The four storey atrium at ground level marks the start of the two towers’ upward journey. After that, they separate, twisting poetically as if they had been pulled apart. They’ll meet again at 71m, where an asymmetric, 38m-wide, three-storey bridge connects them on the structure's one side.

While organic and soft, the building's form feels futuristic, which is accentuated by its glimmering glass facade. The void opens up mind-bending views of the building inwards upon itself. Its curved inward edges playfully juxtapose the hard exterior edge of the cube.

Mahdi Amjad, Omiyat's executive chairman and CEO is pleased: ‘The design conveys the remarkably inventive quality of ZHA’s work; expressing a sculptural sensibility that reinvents the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior.’ 

In 2020, the Opus Dubai will open officially to guests of the ME by Melia hotel – which, if it is anything like the practice's Morpheus Macau that completed in 2018, is certainly set to enthrall. And with 12 restaurants, a rooftop bar and 56,000 sq ft of office space inside it, the building will no doubt become a new attraction for Dubai.

INFORMATION

zaha-hadid.com

The sun is high in the sky on the Gulf of Oman. We are more than an hour’s drive from the street of Sharjah and the high-rise metropolis of Dubai, the windswept curves of sand dunes dotted by camels and cacti and the hulking, hazy Al Hajar Mountains in the distance. Our convoy arrives in the quiet seaside town of Kalba, and we’re ushered towards an abandoned, beige-coloured building, its foundations built on sand. This, I’m told, was once a factory for ice cubes. Now, it’s being ‘reactivated’ by a series of ‘host occasions’ — artist-led events incorporating visuals, sound art, site-specific installations, performance and dance.

The edges of the Kalba Ice Factory are on a manmade peninsular. The first reactivation is here, performed by Torkwase Dyson and her collective Dark Adaptive, who have orientated six sculptures so their sight-lines point us toward the wetland ecosystems leading out towards the Indian Ocean. I Belong to the Distance explores our ‘incessant desire to develop the land, tied to the global transformation of oceans into superhighways’. It’s a pointed comment on the precarious existence of our world, and of our ultimate capability to disrupt this path through forms of activism and protest.

For Dominican Republic–born and Berlin-based dancer Isabel Lewis’ Untitled (juice, inwardness, natures), we then witness a violinist and flutist improvise alongside digital recordings captured at Kalba Nature Reserve, while the mineral heat of the sun filters through coloured acrylic panels. A dancer writhes, her waist-long dreadlocks flying around her, before cars disturb the ensemble by churning sand in aggressive circles around her body.

Next up is Sympoiesis Observatory by the Austrian artist Nikolaus Gansterer. We’re in a room full of shards of mirror waving in the wind and casting shimmered reflections. Birds have used this space to roost, so Gansterer’s sculptures are littered with feathers, excrement and the natural ephemera of nest building and insect activity. Charcoal drawings sprawl across the floor. A sound installation of processed field recordings shudder through the space. In a performance that resembles something of a hypnotic trance, Gansterer completes the charcoal drawings, adding words and further curlicues to his creation, as if he’s giving us a map to a place only he can access.

Finally, and most triumphantly, we play witness to Land of Zanj, a site-specific installation by a South African performance collective including Thembekile Komani and Aphiwe Mpahleni, directed by the Johannesburg-based conceptual artist Mohau Modisakeng. The latter was raised during the most violent years of apartheid, and, as a child, experienced the murder of his older brother. His work, he says, ‘uses the body as a bearer of collective memory’, invoking ‘historical mechanisms of violence’ and ‘grappling with the tensions and contradictions of inequality, exploitation, slavery and race’.

The title of the piece refers to the island of Zanzibar or Azania, an ancient term used to describe various parts of southeastern Africa. Using the modern ephemera that litter the Kalba coast of today – the modern boats, fishing nets and surviving mangrove trees – Modisakeng’s performers set out on an obstacle-strewn journey that allows us to experience the migration of slaves during the historical confluence between the Arabian Peninsula and the Swahili Coast. It’s an audacious usage of found space by one of Africa’s leading young artists.

The reactivation of Kalba is the high-point of the 14th edition of the Sharjah Biennial, organised by Sharjah Art Foundation and curated by Claire Tancons, Omar Kholeif, and Zoe Butt. It runs until 10 June, making use of bespoke and repurposed sites across the emirate of Sharjah and indeed the whole of the United Arab Emirates, and showing the works of more 80 participating contemporary artists from around the globe.

In comparison to its noisy, illustrious neighbour, not many have heard of Sharjah. The tiny emirate lies to the north of Dubai. It’s a more down-at-heel area – used as a home for the many migrant workers that keep Dubai’s endless hotels and malls and restaurants operational. It’s also more conservative than Dubai (which has recently opened a Caesar’s Place casino, a bit like the one in Las Vegas) with requirements made of how women dress and how visitors behave. For fans of Duty-Free, it’s also worth nothing that consuming, selling or even possessing alcohol in Sharjah is illegal.

Yet Sharjah has much to offer for any Western traveller, dry or not. Unlike Dubai, with its huge highways, it’s more than possible to walk through the heart of Sharjah, which is dotted with fascinating contemporary galleries and historical museums built in Western and Middle Eastern architectural traditions. Those skeptical of such a claim need only glance at the names associated with Sharjah’s latest initiatives (which earned it a Best City nomination in the 2019 Wallpaper* Design Awards). The Sharjah Art Foundation recently brought art group Random International’s immersive installation, Rain Room, to the city’s Al Majarrah area as a permanent fixture, while collective Superflex is creating an as-yet unfinished ‘intervention’ in a nearby park. Foster + Partners is currently in the process of redeveloping a land-fill site for waste management company Bee’ah (Sharjah has pledged to achieve zero waste-to-landfill by 2020) while Zaha Hadid Architects is building Bee’ah’s new HQ.

Such monumental architectural creations are designed to be used as cultural meeting places; in addition to the Biennial, Sharjah hosted its first graphic design biennial last November, while the inaugural architecture triennial will also take place later this year. This is powered by Sharjah’s emir – Sheikh Sultan III – who is known for his love and knowledge of art, and his daughter Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, who founded Sharjah Art Foundation in 2009 after learning her craft in London. Al Qasimi holds an MA in curating contemporary art from the Royal College of Art in London, a diploma in painting from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and a BFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She now serves as the Foundation’s president and director.

The premise of this year’s edition of Sharjah Biennial is ‘Leaving the Echo Chamber’. It’s a bold title, but is backed up the fact that more than 75 per cent of the works on show in the biennial are new commissions made especially for this event. Many are large in scope and immersive to experience, making full use of the spaces provided. A good example of this comes in form of the winner of this year’s Biennial Prize, Nigerian artists Otobong Nkanga and Emeka Ogboh. Located in the Bait Al Aboudi outdoor courtyard, the artists’ installation, Aging Ruins Dreaming Only to Recall the Hard Chisel from the Past, is based around the premise of an enclosed, gated microclimate.

At first glance, this ecosystem doesn’t appear to be doing all that well. A dead palm listlessly lulls in the sun, while cratered pools of water collected from the sea sit stagnantly. Yet concealed speakers convey the lovely sounds of local children singing a traditional ‘rain song’, while the artists recite poetry animating the perspective of the trees, water, and earth found in the courtyard. As darkness falls, screens around the courtyard light up, with gleaming text reflected in the water. In such a manmade environment, in which the wilds of nature is uncommon at best, the artists seem to be using the space to create a modern, harmonised form of prayer, spellcasting or ritualised wishmaking.

Nearby, the latest film from the American artist and 2018 MacArthur fellow Wu Tsang. Her film One emerging from a Point of View explores a seaside community of Lesbos, Greece, which has been transformed by the presence of over half a million refugees who have used the island to enter Europe since 2011.

Hanging in the Sharjah Art Museum, the Pakistani multimedia artist Khadim Ali – now based between Sydney and Kabul – exhibits tapestries that explore the violent recent history of his country via carefully hand-embroidered tableaux. The artist was once one of the persecuted Hazara people of Afghanistan, and his exquisite tapestries balance flowers and mythological creatures with sinister portraits of US soldiers. Ali’s larger series was again commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation. At the Emirates Fine Art Society, the artist has created a wall mural and a sound installation using the spiked, ominous metal horns that broadcast religious extremist verses in Kabul districts occupied by Taliban forces.

At the very end of one of Sharjah Art Museum’s long halls is Btitish artist Shezad Dawood’s virtual reality exploration of the relations between the US and Pakistan since Pakistan’s partition from India in 1947. The mirrored installations are ‘virtual reality’ sets animated by video screens, tapestries and sculptures. The work, titled Encroachment, Dawood writes is a ‘meditation on the idea of sovereignty, private property and the politics of space in the two largest cities in Pakistan – Lahore and Karachi’. We view a colonial bookshop in Lahore, the former US embassy in Karachi, and an old-school Space Invaders gaming arcade. Dawood was recognised by the Biennial for the work at the gala dinner. In January 2020, it will go on show at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham.

The Sharjah Biennial is a triumphant celebration of contemporary creations from across the world, a true dialogue between East and West, and a carefully curated confluence of the many issues we all uniformly face in the world, and can maybe only really understand through the shared experience of art. As a cultural destination, Sharjah is firmly on the map.

INFORMATION

Sharjah Biennial 14 runs until 10 June at various locations. For more information, visit the Sharjah Art Foundation website

Having spent the past three decades wooing big five-star luxury brands to their cities, Emiratis are discovering the joys of ecotourism in their own backyard, the desert. The newest opening is the five-room Al Faya Lodge & Spa, at the foot of Mount Alvaah, in the crimson sands of Sharjah. It’s the latest addition to the Sharjah Collection, a group of boutique hotels and eco-retreats located across the Emirate.

Eschewing the new-build model that prevails in the region, the eco lodge has been repurposed from two 1960s buildings (formerly a grocery store and café) by London and Dubai-based practice Anarchitect, who are also behind the interiors. ‘There are many organic farms and historical tombs in the region,’ explains Anarchitect’s British founder, Jonathan Ashmore. ‘Sharjah, and its art biennale, are attracting a new type of visitor who appreciates nature and heritage.’

Offering fine dining, a roof terrace for star gazing, an open-air saltwater pool and a variety of spa treatments, the lodge must be booked in its entirety. And given its remote location, that spells one very private party.

ADDRESS

Al Batayeh
Al Faya Road
Mleiha
Sharjah
UAE

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They say that Dubai is a city where anything is possible, so perhaps the notion of enjoying a classic New York City barbershop experience on a trip to the beach is nothing unusual. At the latest outpost of Akin – a high-end UAE-based barbers – customers can now follow up a dip in the sea with a haircut, beard trim or straight razor shave.

Located in The Beach development in Dubai’s Marina district, the barbershop has a surprisingly small footprint – just 38 sq m in total. For its architect, Jonathan Ashmore and his UAE and London-based studio Anarchitect, this lack of space and beachside location posed a welcome design dilemma.

‘Our brief for Akin was to challenge the traditional barbershop while maintaining the familiar functionality and enhancing the social dynamics and experience for guests of the shop,’ explains Ashmore, who also designed Akin's original shop on the city's Sheikh Zayed Road.

‘Given the project's close proximity to the beach and the year-round Dubai sunshine, contextually we wanted to create a bright, fresh and crisp feel to the space without losing the rich association barbers have to craftsmanship and detail.’

Taking contextual inspiration from lightweight beach structures, the studio wrapped the small space in a solid ash frame that creates a sense of height and lightness while defining new but permeable boundaries. Built to accommodate the four barber stations, the structure is designed to be adaptive so that it can be replicated in each new Akin location, where it can be reconfigured to best suit its context. As well as barber stations, it can accommodate retail displays, an entrance door, shelving, a waiting bench and also a panelled wall system.

At The Beach outpost, the structure's contemporary ash design is pleasingly contrasted with more traditional barbershop features such as parquet floors, monochrome mosaic tiling and heavy duty barber shop chairs. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Anarchitect website

Hitting just before new years fitness resolutions become less resolute, Warehouse Gym has opened a new location in Dubai Design District. The three-year-old, purpose-built mecca – known for its dedication to the design community, including startups, entrepreneurs and established international brands – is prime real estate for a visually exciting workout zone.

The interiors architects – VSHD Design, led by Rania Hamed – aimed to appeal to ‘the design savvy community’, and took their queues from brutalism, using locally cured concrete bricks and flooring, resilient to heavy use. The whole space, clad in this atmopsheric grey, will develop an appealing patina over time. Accents of gold-hued copper add a voguish polish, while a 17m long glass window invites visitors in from The Block – the adjacent recreational facility featuring a skate park and basketball court.

Straying from the usual design-world inspiration bank, Hamed and her team looked to underground fight clubs to toughen up the otherwise fairly clean-cut aesthetic. Imposing concrete columns are left exposed, and a giant graffiti mural spans one wall.

The facilities, squeezed into the somewhat awkward 600 sq m space, include a gym floor, juice bar, cycling studio and circuit training factory. The unit was once carved up into three separate retailers, so Hamed and her team had to overcome the disrupted spacial design by completely rethinking it. They created a sense of unity by rotating the design around a central glass box housing the cycling podium, in which (from a distance) cyclists appear to levitate while pedalling.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Warehouse Gym D3 website

Four years on and the UAE has managed not just to inaugurate, then nurture and develop a fine annual Dubai Design Week, by international standards, but to encapsulate under one giant emotional umbrella all that is of cultural significance in the contemporary Arab world.

With a junket of journalists being flown in from all corners of the globe, Dubai Design Week this November became the opportune moment to launch the Jameel Arts Centre by London-based Serie Architects, the first non-profit non-government owned museum for contemporary art in the UAE, as well as the first Fikra Graphic Design Biennial in neighbouring emirate Sharjah. Art Jameel has been a supporter of Islamic arts since the 1990s through weighty venues such as London’s V&A and the Met in New York. And now, Jameel finally has its own physical home, with a second to follow in Jeddah in few coming years.

Last year saw the opening of the minimal Etihad museum – Etihad translating to ‘unification’ in Arabic – which through modern means explains the history of the Emirates themselves in the 1970s. There was also the long-awaited Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre in Abu Dhabi.

Next year we will witness the Museum of the Future, already taking hold under the Emirates Towers, an extraordinary feat both architecturally and content wise, with a 3D-printed skin. There is a push in the Dubai to have all buildings 3D-printed within a very short time. For the 2020 Expo, it is cited that police will be seated atop man-driven drones. Technology is king in the UAE and the local success of the Global Grad Show during Dubai Design Week is indicative of a place at the vanguard of neoteric thought.

Aside from new visions for the Emirates, many real stars this year at Dubai Design Week have been the people who have helped boost the bedrock of Dubai and the Emirates contemporary culture. Included are director of Jameel Arts Centre, Antonia Carver, previously director of Art Dubai, and designer and curator Khalid Shafar, whose earlier work Wallpaper* exhibited at ‘Middle East Revealed’ in collaboration with Dubai Design District (d3) in London in 2014. Both Carver and Shafar are very good communicators, and after all, isn't art and design all, really, communication?

‘UAE Design Stories’ exhibited in Dubai was the third incarnation of the project spearheaded by Emirati Khalid Shafar, following Milan during Salone del Mobile and London during the London Design Festival. The Dubai offering is an extremely considered collaboration with select designers commissioned to create pieces inspired by a longstanding Emirati children’s magazine, Majid Magazine. With the subtext, ‘Designed for Littles, Ours and Others’ the pieces shown were unusually un-child like in appearance until explained, and all possess commercial feasibility.

The ‘Dana’ bench by Aljoud Lootah, who also exhibited at Downtown Editions, was inspired by the curly hair and earrings of Dana, a comic book character. Meanwhile ‘Pop’ by Alia Bin Omair is a colourful lollipop night light that separates from its base, inspired from a lollipop puzzle in the comic. ‘Seesaw’, a sophisticated low level bench seat – Majlis style – by Abdulla Almulla is a seesaw when converted.

There is a thoughtfulness and compassion to Emirati design today and a great sense of ‘group’ and heritage, reminiscent of Memphis with its playfulness and collaborative spirit. Neighbouring countries in the Gulf and within the entire MENASA region also enjoy the platform Dubai Design Week offers via Abwab – Arabic for gateway. The Saudi and Kuwait pavilions took the limelight this year, the latter through the tireless work of young Kuwaiti metal worker Kawther Alsaffar with her work Desert Cast. Alsaffar continues to sand cast most recently using architectural motifs of her region and a work force of casters whose tradition requires new tolerances.

At the brand new Editions section within Downtown Design, the more commercial arm of Dubai Design Week, fledgling and established Emirate-based designers exhibited alongside counterparts from Jordan and Palestine. In five years since even the possibility of Dubai Design Week was first discussed, business is clearly booming, moreover, its the stories that reign supreme and commit clout to culture.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dubai Design Week website

Ten galleries, four tons of rock and 33 species of desert plants have made their way onto the Dubai Creek at the newly opened Jameel Arts Centre. The institution is the first art centre of its kind in the Gulf, designed by UK-based Serie Architects, it is both independent and non-profit.

Serie Architects based the 10,000 sq m space on the model of ‘Sha’abi’ low-cost governmental housing, a configuration of low colonnade buildings that reflect that idea of rooms circling a courtyard. ‘Sha’abi’ was also the focal point of the 2016 UAE Venice Architecture Biennale, and Christopher Lee who spearheads Serie Architects chose this design as an ode to this public 1960s and 1970s architecture of the city. ‘It acts as a background structure for life of the centre to unfold, without disappearing from view’, he says.

Wondering around the modest three-storey white aluminium and concrete structure evokes a sense of Palm Springs purism with the seven desert gardens, brought to life by landscape architect Anouk Vogel, peppered amongst the buildings and the piercing blue skies as backdrop. It is only the neighbouring Palazzo Versace hotel and skyline on the horizon of the Jaddaf Waterfront that quickly draws us back to the fact that this is the forever contrasting urban concourse of Dubai.

Inside, the multiple levels of gallery space enable a dynamic journey that takes the visitor from the expanding library and research centre past ceiling-height windows that frame the Jaddaf Waterfront and up to a rooftop that currently holds an artificial botanical garden by Kuwait-based Alia Farid and Aseel AlYaqoub.

The Jameel Arts Centre opens its doors with a flurry of shows, including ‘Crude' curated by Murtaza Vali that explores the oil industry as a magical agent of social, cultural and economic evolution across the Middle East. Outside, the institution is celebrating the first open-air art park in the Gulf too, the Jaddaf Waterfront sculpture park by UAE-based ibda design who present a host of works that explore themes of nature and transformation.

Director Antonia Carver describes this waterfront retreat as an honour to Dubai as a crucial port city. ‘Our first permanent space, Jameel Arts Centre ushers a new phase of development for Art Jameel', she says. ‘The collaborative, innovative approach of the architects sets up Jameel Arts Centre to fulfil its mission – to present dynamic, thought-provoking exhibitions, act as a hub for educational research initiatives and continue to engage partnerships with local, regional and international artists, curators and organisations.’

INFORMATION

For more information visit the website of Serie Architects

In 2015, Dubai Design Week launched with the aim to make a mark on the design world. Four years on and it appears to have ignited an exciting cultural movement in the region, described by Rawan Kashkoush, head of programming at Dubai Design Week, as an ‘Arab design renaissance’. By its second edition, Dubai Design Week doubled in size and last year the city felt well and truly anointed as a new creative capital as locals celebrated the opening of the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi and OMA’s first Dubai project on the hip Alserkal Avenue, Concrete art space.

It hasn’t stopped there. During this year’s event, the first contemporary art institution – Jameel Arts Centre – opens in Dubai, plus the Middle East gains a graphic design biennale inaugurating in the neighbouring Sharjah, and the D3 design district – just a developing project four years ago – now has 85 per cent occupancy. We scoured the 230-plus events at the fourth edition of Dubai Design Week to bring you the unmissable highlights...

Fikra Graphic Design Biennial

More than 20 countries have been invited for this inaugural graphic design event. The brainchild of Fikra, a graphic design studio and education platform, it is an opportunity for Middle Eastern practices to make an impact on the global graphic design scene through the exhibitions, performances, workshops and more. The old Bank of Sharjah is the location for the showcase, a 1970s modernist unused block that is transformed into a fictional and temporary ‘Ministry of Graphic Design’ by T. ZED Architects for the event.

‘I would like to think of it as un-defining graphic design – challenging preconceived ideas of the discipline but providing an unexpectedly broad array of graphic design works, concepts and initiatives,’ says Salem Al-Qassimi, founder of Fikra. The exhibition is divided into creative sections that reflect the hierarchal structures of a government including The Department of Mapping Margins and The Department of Dematerialising Language. Pictured: Brexit: Why Did It Happen? by Paula Minelgaite, 2017. Read more here. Courtesy of Obaid Al Budoor

9-30 November; Bank of Sharjah/eLseed Building, Heart of Sharjah, UAE

Circadian Light Synthesis by Anarchitect 

Offering a reflective moment at one of the entrances of D3 is Anarchitect’s clay pavilions, inspired by the human circadian rhythm. The Dubai and London-based practice is investigating the effect of sunlight and temperatures on our body clock with two structures: one is aligned with the sunlight with rotating fixtures and another is dictated by artificial lighting. During sundown, the pavilions also provides a unique photographic frame of Dubai’s ever-changing skyline, including its most powerful architectural monument; the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai Design District D3

Global Grad Show

The Brendan McGetrick-curated show includes 150 inventions that ‘accelerate change and improve lives’, by graduates from 100 different universities on show. Chile, Hungary, Jordan and Pakistan are represented for the first time this year and projects are picked based on innovation in technology, equality (with no hierarchal difference between universities), universal design and impact on the world. The show is bought together in an installation by New York-based SO-IL who have created painted fabric 'mountains' that visitors can walk around to discover the works.

‘Graduates today are faced with daunting truths such as climate change, automation, and mass migration,’ explains McGetrick. ‘Each of these projects offers a restorative solution; an idea of how to make human-scale changes with the hope of bettering humankind as a whole.’ Pictured: creams and cleaning agents by Mirjam De Bruijn from Design Academy Eindhoven that arrive concentrated to be mixed with water at home, an alternative to the usual 80 per cent water that can be found in these products.

Art Dubai Group, Building 6, Dubai Design District

Jameel Arts Centre

The 10,000 sq m space by UK-based Serie Architects is the first contemporary arts space of its kind in the country. Combining ten gallery spaces, an arts library and resource centre, seven desert gardens, event spaces, a restaurant and shop, the cultural spot is a multidisciplinary addition to the Jaddaf waterfront, overlooking the Dubai Creek. ‘We are excited to launch our first dedicated space, here in the United Arab Emirates,’ says Antonia Carver, director of Art Jameel. ‘Jameel Arts Centre is set to not only expand the public's engagement with our extensive collection and library but also present museum quality exhibitions in partnership with local, regional and global collaborators.’ The centre opens with multiple shows including Crude, an exhibition curated by Murtaza Vali that explores the history of oil in the Middle East. Read more here. Photography: Mohamed Somji

Jameel Arts Centre, Jaddaf Waterfront

Abwab by Architecture + Other Things

Five pavilions by interdisciplinary platform Architecture + Other Things rise up for the the fourth edition of Abwab – the Arabic word for doors. The structures that pepper a centre space in D3 are realised in natural materials including timber coated in recycled newspaper pulp and fallen twigs and house works dedicated to regional practices from Kuwait, Beirut, host country Dubai and Amman.

Dubai Design District D3

Downtown Design

The trade section of Dubai Design Week had a new addition this year; Downtown Editions, an area of the fair dedicated to UAE makers that formed as part of a merging of the Design Days Dubai that used to take place every March. Highlights include snippets of designs from Casablanca Design Week and Amman Design Week, plus a selection of work by emerging talents who have taken part in a year-long residency with Dubai-based Tashkeel producing the collection Taween. Elsewhere, interior design studio Roar (previously known as Pallavi Dean Interiors) realised a graphic and vibrant installation for Sharjah-based Oasis Paints, capturing the essence of its factory with pillars that mimic large paint drums.

Dubai Design District D3

INFORMATION

Dubai Design Week is on view 12-17 November. For more information, visit the website

Moving away from the cookie-cutter luxury properties that have defined Dubai’s hospitality scene in recent years, Form Hotel is a breath of fresh air for a city whose industry could very well be on the turn.

Catering to that well-travelled, style-savvy digital nomad, the property offers an individual, authentic, localised experience, but takes it a step further with curated list of amenity, service and experience add-ons that include architecture or food tours, basics like bathrobes, or luxuries such as private butlers and turndown services.

The design, by global outfit Architecture-Studio doesn’t stray from the brand’s concept, with an understated, low-key look featuring bespoke furnishings in muted timber, brushed brass and marble.

Located in the city’s Culture Village, downtown Dubai, with its profusion of shops and restaurants, is a 10-minute drive away, but if you’re looking to stay in, the hotel’s restaurant serves an all-day healthy menu with dishes like the zen bowl with quinoa, avocado and rocket.

ADDRESS

Al Jadaf, Dubai Canal

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London-based designer Es Devlin has just been announced as the winner of the large-scale competition for the design of the UK pavilion at the upcoming World Expo, set to take place in 2020 in Dubai. The awardwinning creative, who has also been behind world class events such as the London Olympics closing ceremony and recently staged a poetry-spouting neon lion in Trafalgar Square, has created a structure centred on British expertise in artificial intelligence and space, entitled ‘The Poem Pavilion'. 

Few commissions are more prestigious than the those where a designer is called to represent the creativeness and business sense of a whole nation; the World Expos have been a playground for architectural experimentation ever since their introduction in the 19th century. More recently, Thomas Heatherwick's ‘Seed Cathedral' in Shanghai and Asif Khan's 2017 pavilion in Astana are key examples of temporary structures with a permanent place in the collective cultural memory. 

Working with her signature combination of light and technology, the artist conceived the pavilion as a device that will be set up to transmit a ‘message to space’. Each of the Expo’s anticipated 25 million visitors will be invited to contribute to the message, making this a truly collective effort.

‘The idea draws directly on one of Stephen Hawking’s final projects, “Breakthrough Message”, a global competition that Hawking and his colleagues conceived in 2015 inviting people worldwide to consider what message we would communicate to express ourselves as a planet, should we one day encounter other advanced civilisations in space', says Devlin. ‘What if the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 becomes a place where visitors from all over the world take part in a collective global project that showcases British expertise in A.I. technologies and poetry while transcending national identities?'

Devlin will work with brand experience agency Avantgarde, who will take on the project's production. Structural engineers Atelier One and award-winning sustainability engineers Atelier Ten will also be involved in bringing this ambitious design to life.

The design is inspired by British expertise in artificial intelligence and space

INFORMATION

For more information visit the website of Es Devlin

When it comes to extravagantly monumental projects, Dubai’s urban planners have always cleaved to the notion that ‘bigger is better’. Which goes some way towards explaining the World and Palm projects, both of which can literally be seen from space. Equally, with such a benign top-down attitude towards largesse, it’s only fitting that architects of independent projects have felt encouraged to also dream big. Such as P&T Architects’ work on the Five Palm Jumeirah.

Set on Palm Island, the 468-room pleasure dome is designed to amaze and impress, beginning with a colossal glass-cubed arrival zone that measures 15m by 15m around which are stacked white angled balconies; and continuing with an 80m pool that laps down the central axis. By contrast, Yabu Pushelberg has created intimate interiors by layering geometric patterns and volumes to create cocoons of light and shadow. The colours of the Arabian Sea are referenced in the mood-board of materials and furniture, particularly in the bedrooms which feature geometric marble floors, bas-relief headboards and mosaic tiled patterns. Similarly, the spa is a visual treat with back-lit glass perforations enrobing each white cubed treatment room.

Equally unexpected are Maiden Shanghai, a light-filled room that pairs views of sky and sea with roast duck and dim sum; and the Yabu Pushelberg-designed Quattro Passi where chefs Antonio Mellino and Giuseppe Pezzella serve up the cuisine of the Amalfi coast. 

ADDRESS

No. 1, Palm Jumeirah

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A design competition has been launched to find the designer for the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, and the anticipation is already rising. Past pavilions have been created to wide acclaim by architects, artists and designers such as Thomas Heatherwick, Asif Khan and Wolfgang Buttress – all of which have gone on to win multiple awards for their bold expo designs. Now, the Department for International Trade is about to offer this chance to a new team or individual who will create the best proposal to represent the UK in the upcoming world expo, set to take place in Dubai between 20 October 2020 and 10 April 2021, under the theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the future’. We caught up with UK commissioner general Laura Faulkner to discuss the competition. 

W*: What is your vision for the Expo 2020 Dubai UK Pavilion? 
LF: My vision is that we will create a Pavilion which is stand out, exciting and unique. It will showcase the very best in British design, creativity and innovation. The UK has been the recipient of a number of awards for its designs and Pavilions at previous World Expos in Milan and Shanghai and at the recent specialised Expo in Astana and we want to build on our successes. The UK Pavilion will provide us with a platform to promote all that is great about Britain at an important time when we are building future global relationships and will form the centrepiece for the ‘Global Britain – Innovating for a shared future’ campaign, our theme for Expo 2020 Dubai. 

W*: Who would you like to see participating in the competition?
LF: We want to get the widest possible response to the tender to ensure we can meet the brief. We are looking for a stand-out idea delivered through a holistic design approach – across multiple disciplines. We are welcoming submissions from established designers as well as newer and smaller teams. This is a fantastic opportunity for any and all designers. The winning design team will benefit from instant international recognition.

W*: Could you tell us a little bit about the site of the Expo, and specifically that of the UK Pavilion? 
LF: The Master Plan for the Expo site was developed to create a physical and engaging environment which embraces the vision for the event and incorporates the theme for Expo, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and the subthemes, of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability which will be represented in the three districts of the Expo site. The site covers 4.38 square kilometres, just 3 per cent land area of an entirely new city (Dubai South) being created in legacy. The new city will be linked to the new Al Maktoum International Airport, set to become the world’s largest and busiest airport carrying in excess of 250m passengers a year with links to Jebel Ali Port and a short distance from Abu Dhabi International Airport. The UK will be participating with a large Pavilion, situated in the Opportunity District. The UK has selected a Pavilion location which will see a high footfall of visitors and VIPs making it easily accessible and very noticeable to all Expo visitors. The design of the UK Pavilion needs to reflect this excellent location and become a landmark that all visitors want to see. It is expected that as part of the ‘Global Britain – Innovating for a shared future’ campaign the UK will run a comprehensive events programme from the Pavilion and therefore conference space, back of house facilities and catering facilities will be required to enable this. The event space and restaurant should have their own dedicated entrances that allow access without having to go through the full Pavilion customer journey.

W*: What makes Dubai special in the history of World Expos?
LF: Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region (MEASA), and the first Expo to be hosted by an Arab nation. The Expo event will run from 20 October 2020 until 10 April 2021. Expo is expecting to host 25 million visitors, with 70 per cent of them coming from outside the UAE – the largest proportion of international visitors in Expo history. At the crossroads of East and West, the UAE is the ideal location to host a World Expo; with the ambition to create an exceptional platform for the global community to come together to address critical issues and explore pioneering solutions that could improve the lives of generations to come.

W*: What is the role of design and architecture in a World Expo? 
LF: Since the very first Expo in 1851, until the present day, World Expos have showcased the world’s best and brightest. The very first World Expo, The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry took place in the Crystal Palace, in London. It was an amazing exhibition space and designed and built for the Expo. It became a showpiece for revolutionary new techniques in cast iron working and plate glass manufacture that revolutionised construction. The legacy of the first World Expo in 1851 still remains today, in the area now known as Albertopolis in London, which is home to some of the most world-famous museums. Each district of the Expo site will differ from each other. They will have an architectural expression which will be identifiable by the different materials, colours and patterns used in the district. Every pavilion on the Expo site will be an iconic building symbolising its own subtheme and providing visitors with an immersive experience. Each participating nation has the opportunity to display the very best in their architecture and design capabilities through their Pavilion, something which the UK excels at. 

W*: What will inform and influence your decision in choosing the winning entry? 
LF: The design is being procured via a design competition run through the official EU tender process. This process includes input from an external panel of judges with specialist expertise. The criteria are clearly set out in the tender documentation. Once registered, you can search for the opportunity via “DN320589 Dubai Expo 2020 – UK Pavilion Design Competition”.

INFORMATION

For more information visit the Dubai Expo 2020 website and the competition’s website

When tasked with creating chef Sean Connolly’s brasserie in the expansive top floor of architect Janus Rostock’s dhow-shaped Dubai Opera masterpiece, Jeremy Bull, founder of Alexander & Co, made a calculated decision: sink it. 

Designed in partnership with fellow Australian multi-disciplinary practice, Tribe Studio, aquatic themes flow between the conjoined main restaurant, bar areas and outdoor rooftop terrace serving premium grills and global seafood delicacies. ‘The experience is like floating through an ocean sea bed; unusual and surreal, with shards of daylight falling upon the corals of the furniture and reflecting from the scales of the enormous vaulted ceiling tiles,’ explains Bull. 

Referencing the soft pink banquette leathers and faint pearl grey matt and glazed finishes of the oyster shell-like sails above, textures, colours and patinas were considered with exacting precision.

Sea kelp-green velveteen lounges and an immersive dappled blue wool carpet float atop sandy-hued marble floors upon which curvilinear cult 20th-Century furniture originals are poised. Custom-designed masterpieces include a brass mobile light batten with disc nodules inspired by floating driftwood and a suspended Merino wool tentacle sculpture. 

ADDRESS

Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard

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It seems Dubai has lofty ambitions when it comes to trying to establish itself as a creative hub on the international design trail. Having launched its own design week a few years ago, the third edition took place last month and attracted 60,000 visitors, 50 per cent up on last year. The six-day event, anchored around the vast 15.5 million sq ft D3 design district – the second of three building phases currently underway, led by Foster & Partners – offered up a host of exhibitions, installations, a programme of over 100 talks, which included a keynote discussion with Sir David Adjaye, a tradeshow and an international graduate event.

Exhibitions that unearthed new regional talent were a highlight. At ‘ABWAB’ (which means ‘door’ in Arabic), a showcase curated by the festival’s head of programming, Rawan Kashkoush, served up the work of 47 designers from 15 countries, who are creating contemporary design mostly made employing traditional techniques or materials rooted in the region. The event was held within a freestanding, temporary pavilion made from discarded mattress springs by Dubai-based Fahed & Architects. Also of note, ‘Middle East Design Now!’ a new nomadic collection, founded and curated by Wallpaper* editor-at-large, Suzanne Trocmé. Having held its debut at this year’s London Design Festival, this extended show examined the work of 12 emerging designers from six countries including Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, UAE, Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco.

High profile international brands were in attendance too. Czech-based glass specialist Lasvit collaborated with local designer Khalid Shafer on Silent Call, a light sculpture inspired by the domed roofs of five well-known mosques, each of which lights up in sequence according to Islamic prayer times within different time zones. The fine white lights represent people making their way to or from each mosque. Swarovski, which has had a showroom in the district for some time, was celebrating its 10 year relationship with London-based design duo Fredrikson Stallard by presenting Prologue, a circular sculpture, four metres in diameter, featuring over 8,000 amber crystal droplets attached to a steel frame.

The tradeshow, Downtown Design, held by the D3 waterfront, was also the largest edition yet with 150 exhibitors (including brands such as Baccarat, CC Tapis and Lladro) on offer.

The Global Grad Show was another high point of the week. Curated by Brendan McGetrick, this year’s focus was on sustainability and empowerment and showed some 200 forward looking prototype projects from graduate designers from 92 universities from 43 countries. One example – and winners of the inaugural Progress Prize – was the Polish design duo, MIKO+ who designed a collection of jewellery that acts as a brace for those with wrist injuries or carpal tunnel syndrome.

The newly installed head of design at Art Dubai Group, William Knight, a former director of London’s 100% Design and the deputy director of the London Design Festival, sums up. ‘It was an outstanding week, which made a positive impact on everyone that visited events and the city itself. The event demonstrated the creativity and commitment of Dubai’s creative community and its supporters.’ 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dubai Design Week website

Since its inception three years ago at the inaugural Dubai Design Week, the Global Grad Show has proved itself to be one of the weeklong event’s most successful concepts.

It gathers together the most promising design talent from schools across the globe with a sharp focus on projects that are designed to make a positive social or environmental impact.

From trainers knitted from algae, to a device that unnervingly highlights the extent of UV light damage to the skin, the projects are as diverse as they are ambitious.

This year, the Global Grad Show grew considerably in size, moving from its former ground floor space in one of the district’s glass office buildings to its own dedicated tent. Inside the vast white structure, design and technology graduates from almost 100 design schools across 43 countries and every continent were organised across a snaking layout divided into three sectors: empower, connect and sustain.

‘Global Grad Show is trying to enlarge the vision of innovation,’ says its curator, the independent writer, editor and designer Brendan McGetrick. ‘I think no matter what you do when you graduate, one thing that’s really important is to really deeply engage with an experience outside of your own, because that’s what’s good design is.’

As well as its new larger location, this year saw the introduction of the Progress Prize, an international award that will be awarded to one Global Grad Show exhibitor each year. This year’s winning design was selected by a global jury made up of industry leaders including Noah Murphy-Reinhertz, Nike's NXT Space Sustainability Leader; M+ museum curator Aric Chen; and UK-based design critics Hugo MacDonald and Edwin Heathcote, to name just a selection.

The inaugural prize went to a jewellery collection that also acts as a brace for those with wrist injuries or carpal tunnel syndrome. The gilded pink brass and mineral acrylic composite pieces are designed by Polish design duo Ewa Dulcet and Martyna Świerczyńska, both graduates of the Domestic Design course at the School of Form in Poznan, Poland.

Highly commended pieces included a system of kitchen utensils to aid the blind designed by Kevin Chiam from the National University of Singapore; Royal College of Art graduate Reto Togni's Reagiro wheelchair, with its novel steering system that allows the user to control the movement of the chair through the upper body rather than through braking and pushing; and, from New York's Parsons School of Design, Sungmy Kim's Nonliving Stakeholders – a programme that encourages people to view objects as people and consider their experiences in order to combat the problem of excessive waste.

‘Because these graduates are all in their twenties, they’re really having to address problems that are going to be happening in the next 20 to 30 to 40 years,’ explains McGetrick. ‘The problems are very real to them, so they deal with them differently. That’s something that I think is really important to have access to. We're going to need some fresh thinking in the world in the coming years.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dubai Design Week website

Name a Middle Eastern brand. Fifteen years ago, the world had only heard of one: al-Qaeda. How times have changed. Today, we have airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad; hotels, like the Jumeirah, Rotana and Address chains; developers, notably Emaar, Damac and Nakheel, the company behind Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeirah; telecoms outfits, such as Orascom and Etisalat; and shopping malls – Dubai Mall is the most visited place on earth, attracting 80m shoppers a year who generate sales of more than $4bn.

Dubai itself is now a brand: the outward-looking, socially liberal and religiously tolerant capital of modern Arabia – the local answer and antidote to al-Qaeda. ‘This city is amazing, what it does for people, for Muslims, for the world,’ says Mohamed Alabbar, looking out over the skyscrapers that rise from the dusty desert scrub like giant exclamation marks of prosperity and modernity. Never heard of Alabbar? You have and, actually, you’re a fan – if, that is, you’ve admired or visited the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, shopped at Dubai Mall, or stayed at one of the Armani hotels in Dubai or Milan. His firm, Emaar, the largest developer in the region, which has built 50,000 homes and dozens of hotels and shopping malls, created them all. And that’s just the start. With architect Santiago Calatrava, Alabbar is building an even taller tower than the Burj Khalifa – the $1bn Dubai Creek Harbour Tower. Slender and flared at the bottom, he describes it as the Middle East’s answer to the Eiffel Tower.

‘My doctor is quite concerned. He tells me: “Mohamed, you’ve done one tower, please slow down.”’ But the billionaire won’t listen. In fact, he’s doubled down. Next to the new tower, he’s creating another vast shopping mall, part of the $60bn development of a new 6 sq km district, called Dubai Creek Harbour. Alabbar is also moving from bricks and mortar into clicks and mortar. He has just bought a 4 per cent stake in Yoox Net-a-Porter, run by Federico Marchetti, for €100m. The two men will extend Net-a-Porter to the Gulf. Neither Yoox nor Net-a-Porter has a website in Arabic or dedicated distribution in the Middle East, even though the region accounts for 5 per cent of the $220bn global luxury market. The joint venture will be 60 per cent owned by Yoox Net-a-Porter and 40 per cent by Alabbar through his family office, Symphony Investments. Alabbar, along with other prominent investors in the region, is also investing $500m to launch Noon, the Middle Eastern answer to Amazon. Saudi Arabia’s state- owned Public Investment Fund is matching him dollar for dollar to create a $1bn start-up.

‘Noon will be Amazon, plus, plus, plus. It will sell up to 20m items – home and garden, electronics, high-street fashion, even groceries,’ he says. To help him expand further in technology, Alabbar has also set up a $1bn fund to invest in other start-ups, ‘in healthcare, education, marketplaces, banking, a lot of stuff ’. Put simply, Alabbar is becoming the world’s most high-profile modern Arab entrepreneur: Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Federico Marchetti, Vittorio Radice and Rocco Forte rolled into one dishdasha. ‘No, no, no, no,’ the 60-year- old laughs, pretending not to enjoy the comparison. He is doing it for money, of course. ‘My quarterly results are everything,’ Alabbar says. ‘I make a lot of money for shareholders.’ Emaar’s assets are valued at more than $45bn. He believes e-commerce will grow fast in the Middle East, even though many brands are still struggling to recover from the economic slowdown in the region, sparked by the fall in the oil price. ‘E-commerce is the way to go. It is not even 2 per cent of the overall retail market. That’s the good thing! We believe it will grow to 15 per cent – $70bn,’ he says.

The region boasts 200m young people who are tech-savvy, he points out. He is not put off by taking on giant incumbents, such as Amazon. ‘This is our market. We know it well,’ he says. ‘We operate in 22 countries, with 22 rules and regulations. It is easier for us.’ That’s one reason Marchetti has partnered with Alabbar. Nor does he think that building a vast new shopping mall, to add to the giant one he already has, will prove a misstep, given his predictions for the growth of e-commerce. The trick, he says, is to build urban, integrated malls that give people lots of reasons to visit – not just shopping. ‘We have never built stand-alone malls. All our malls have our kingdom around it.’ Dubai Mall is part of Downtown Dubai, an Emaar development that also includes the Burj Khalifa, the Armani Hotel Dubai, Emaar’s flagship Address hotel, Vida and Manzil hotels, and the world’s tallest performing fountains. ‘They all help each other to live,’ Alabbar says. The mall itself features as many restaurants, cinemas, galleries and family attractions as shops.

‘You have to mix it up,’ he says. The new Dubai Creek Harbour mall will feature high-tech augmented reality entertainment. ‘Your kids, my kids are going to die for this. It’s the most amazing entertainment system in the world and it’s all because of this goddamn technology.’ But Alabbar’s myriad ventures are not just about cash. He wants to reshape the software – the people – of the Middle East as much as he is reshaping the hardware – the buildings and businesses. He aims to nurture Generation M, a new cadre of ambitious, young Muslim entrepreneurs and consumers who will cast off the religious and cultural shackles that have for so long held back the Middle East. ‘When I started in business, I was doing it to run away from poverty,’ he says. ‘But as time has gone by and I’ve got comfortable, I’ve starting asking: “What are we doing for the young guys and young women? For our future?” It is our duty to present Generation M to the world – worldly, happy, positive, embracing all cultures and religions. No bad stories. Muslim, modern and relevant. I want to demonstrate to the world that we, as Arab people, are not the source of only bad news: we can create success.’

When you meet Alabbar in one of his vast homes – with the Ferrari in the garage, his $60m Bombardier Global 6000 jet a phone call away and a new rose gold Rolex on his wrist – it’s tempting to see him as just A N Other Emirati of noble lineage who leveraged his gilded connections to hoover up the new opportunities in the fast-growing United Arab Emirates. But his line about escaping poverty is true. He grew up dirt poor, one of 13 children in a palm-leaf-roofed house with no electricity, near Dubai Creek, the ancient pearl-trading centre. His mother was a homemaker, his father a ship’s captain. When the ruling sheikhs visited the area, ‘I used to push my back to the wall,’ Alabbar says.

‘Now I speak to the Sheikh every other day.’ He did well at school and won a UAE government scholarship to Seattle University, where he studied finance and business administration. After graduating in 1981, his first job was as a manager for the Central Bank of the UAE in Abu Dhabi. ‘I got married and had my first child. But I was restless. I wanted to do more.’ In 1987, the Dubai government posted him to Singapore for five years to run Al Khaleej, a government-backed investment outfit. ‘Singapore’s discipline woke me up. I liked it. I’m that type. I learnt to be positive, organised and not to hesitate. I learnt speed. I have no chairs in my meeting rooms. I like stand-up meetings.’ Returning to Dubai in 1992, he created the Department of Economic Development and wrote the first 10-year strategic plan for the emirate as it began to diversify into transport, real estate, logistics and tourism. ‘It was a time for change,’ he says.

‘I took on new government partners and brought in people who would work day and night, people who had pride in our city.’ Alabbar left government to found Emaar in 1997, with $50m from his and his associates’ savings. The government took a one-third stake in the firm in return for the allocation of prime commercial land to the company. As originally featured in the May 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*218) Not everything Alabbar touches turns to gold. He has lost hundreds of millions of dollars on investments in the US and Algeria. ‘I made a few mistakes. I lost face,’ he says. An electrical fault sent his 63-storey Address hotel in Downtown Dubai up in flames on New Year’s Eve 2015-16. And his deal with Armani to open branded hotels in the Burj Khalifa and Milan has made rather more money for Armani than for him. But so much of what he has tried has worked that he has earned his status as the poster boy for modern Arabia. He chalks up his success to playing by his own rules. ‘I am a maverick. I do strange things,’ he says.

When rivals were taking on huge levels of debt in the go-go years between 2000 and 2008, he refused. ‘I don’t like banks, I don’t like borrowing. I was in Asia during the 1997 crisis. I got hit right in the eyes. I was slaughtered. I can never forget that.’ Alabbar’s refusal to borrow heavily meant that, unlike Nakheel, Emaar didn’t need a state-backed bail-out when the global financial crisis sent property prices in Dubai tumbling by 50 per cent. His iconoclastic streak extends to politics. He provoked a public spat with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, when he jetted off to Israel to try to cut deals to build homes in Palestinian territories. The UAE does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

He also pushes the limits of ‘taste and decency’ in the Middle East. He welcomed Agent Provocateur into Dubai Mall although many locals regard its window displays as revolutionary at best, revolting at worst. When the store opened, one Emirati woman came in only to spit on a poster of a woman in stockings and suspenders. It is now one of Agent Provocateur’s highest-grossing outlets globally. It is Alabbar’s latest political move that has most surprised observers: he attended Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC in January. ‘We have to watch this guy,’ he admits. ‘The ego is the problem.’ But he thinks the US president’s decision to focus attention on Muslims – largely through his clumsy attempts to ban travellers from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the US – could generate a positive outcome for Generation M.

‘What’s happening now will shake us. We need to sit down and talk. And it’s happening. Americans are beginning to go to mosques to ask: can you tell me about this Islam? Jews and Muslims are marching together in America because they are all against anyone who does not respect the American way of life and the constitution. I am going to go to Donald Trump and kiss him on his head!’ He sees business benefits, too. The harder it becomes for Muslims to travel to the US, the more they will opt to live and work in Dubai. ‘If Muslims feel uncomfortable and insecure going to some places, if people say, “I don’t want to go through the hassle about getting visas”, then this is the place they go.’ The more Dubai benefits, the more Generation M will benefit. If that’s what happens, the joke will be on Trump. You get the feeling Alabbar will enjoy that.

As originally featured in the May 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*218)  

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Emaar wesbite

When it comes to Middle Eastern holiday destinations, Dubai offers the glitz, and Abu Dhabi, the glamour. But over on the eastern coastline of the UAE, the hospitality industry is blossoming in Fujairah, providing the ideal location for the Fairmont Hotel group’s newest luxury resort in the region.

Tucked between the rugged Al Hajar mountains and the Gulf of Oman’s sparkling aqua hues, the property has some of the best natural views in the UAE. Designed by Dubai-based firm Stickman, the 180-room resort, with its modest, pale pink exterior, provides a decidedly different type of luxury to some of its more ostentatious neighbours.

While every bedroom maintains an impressive view of the local marina, guests will hurry out of bed to spend their days lounging in the resort’s cosy bohemian Arabesque interiors, or cooling off with a cocktail in the Persian-rug inspired central pool. Throughout the hotel, polished mosaic tile floors, offset by a mix of Berber textiles reflect the area’s varied cultural history; in the Arteasan tea room, traditional mashrabiya screens provide just the right amount of privacy. 

And in the evening, executive chef Giovanni Pugliano takes care of dinner at The Copper Lobster, peppering the Fujairah daily catch with local Arab flavour. When the resort’s private beach club finally opens later this year, the Fairmont will truly be an oasis.

ADDRESS

Mina Al Fajer, Dibba 
Fujairah

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Alserkal Avenue – the Dubai arts district filled with galleries, hip eateries, a black box theatre and design shops – was once the site of a marble factory. Now, it's home to Concrete, the first building in the United Arab Emirates designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. When OMA received the commission a few years back, they were given a simple directive: 'To make that space multipurpose, to enable that building to live multiple lives, because today no space serves only one purpose,' recalls Vilma Jurkute, the director of Alserkal Avenue. 'A museum is not just a museum, a gallery is not just a gallery. They all accommodate so many other initiatives as part of their program. The idea was to create that space for Dubai.'

OMA delivered, transforming an existing warehouse into a 1,250 sq m multipurpose venue. 'We took a shape that was already existing, and then we looked at the behavior of what can happen in that building. We focused on that,' said Rem Koolhaas, the co-founder of OMA. Concrete can be used for everything from a museum-quality exhibition to a yoga studio to a concert hall where multiple events can be held at the same time thanks to a series of rotating walls. 'There is four of them and they have the ability to divide the space into two, three, or four and conduct four different events at the same time,' said Iyad Alsaka, the lead architect on the project.

Unlike the flashy buildings of Dubai – the most famous being the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab – Concrete takes a more minimal approach in tune with the architecture of the surrounding warehouses of Alserkal Avenue. 'The development of shape was not a very productive future, and it made the office switch to performance,' said Koolhaas. A translucent double polycarbonate was used for the facade, which features four enormous pivoting walls that double as entryways. The three other exterior walls consist of a sprayed concrete with integrated mirrors for a sparkly finish. 'The front was very intentional; we wanted to achieve a continuation of the inside space to the outside,' said Alsaka. The interiors feature sweeping 8m high ceilings, walls composed of concrete cladding and skylights that bring natural light into the space. Tucked away in the back is a green room that takes the concept quite literally by covering it in green velvet, and prayer rooms.

The space’s inaugural exhibition is 'Syria: Into the Light', a survey of Syrian art presented by the Atassi Foundation, on view until 3 April. 'It’s about showing that the region has art history, has talent,' said Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, patron and founder of Alserkal Avenue. Expect to see a myriad of other happenings, exhibitions, talks and concerts over the next few months.

'Over the last decade, Alserkal Avenue has grown and evolved organically with the arts and culture scene of the United Arab Emirates,' said Alserkal. 'The introduction of Concrete marks a new milestone as part of the cultural advancement of the region.'

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the OMA website and the Alserkal Avenue website

ADDRESS

Concrete
1 Street 8
Dubai

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