< PreviousCREDIT HERE DESIGN FOCUS 60 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture/Interiors Winter 2023 platform to highlight promising new design talent, it gives a voice to a broad range of creatives experimenting with diff erent disciplines. Dubai-based Agata Kurzela is one such designer. An architect and polymath, she has taken a unique approach to her design process, manipulating technology to power craft. Using a mathematical algorithm based on Conway’s Game of Life – a self-generating pattern that is both contrived and spontaneous – the design is then translated by FBMI’s female weavers in Afghanistan, using natural fi bres and dyes on a traditional loom and hand-fi nished into an abstract carpet. Of course, the week wouldn’t be complete without the talks and impromptu networking that brings together regional experts, industry leaders and practitioners – from professors of world-renowned institutions to artisans – together to discuss the critical issues that are impacting the design world today. And with an opening keynote by the world’s top trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, it promises to be an insightful year. Dubai Design Week ran 7-12 November 2023. dubaidesignweek.ae. Follow @RueKothari From top: The Baalbek vase by Adam Nathaniel from the BEIT Collective is inspired by Lebanon’s historical splendour; MADE51’s Blue Katakuru Ikiba basket is crafted by refugees using repurposed grain sacks, originally used for food aid HBI_059_54-61_Design Focus_13093586.indd 6005/12/2023 11:10AS TOLD TO: A YESHA S. SHEHMIR, IMAGES COUR TESY OF CASSINA 61 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture/Interiors Winter 2023 MOD E R N IC O N S Longstanding artisanship and new technology merge to reveal Cassina’s distinctive works of art for the home Elie Khouri, founder and CEO of Vivium – the family offi ce behind bringing Cassina to the UAE – tells us what makes the Italian brand’s creations timeless masterpieces. CASSINA MARKED ITS DEBUT AT DOWNTOWN DESIGN THIS YEAR. TELL US ABOUT THE INSTALLATION. For Cassina’s debut at Downtown Design, we focused on introducing ‘Th e Cassina Perspective’ to visitors through an engaging installation that presented a unique vision of the home. We created a warm and inviting space carefully curated with over 25 design pieces from Cassina’s vast collection, laid out across four spaces: living, dining, sleeping and home offi ce. Our proposition was a mix of iconic furniture from the Cassina iMaestri Collection designed by greats such as Charlotte Perriand and Gerrit Th omas Reitveld, blended with innovative products from favourites like Antonio Citterio, Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola, with a touch of novelty from exciting new designers like Linde Freya Tangelder. Th e storytelling was focused on how Cassina can create a holistic and aesthetic experience for the home by combining so many diff erent styles. WHAT IS ‘THE CASSINA PERSPECTIVE’? ‘Th e Cassina Perspective’ embodies a forward-thinking philosophy that expresses the brand’s pioneering spirit through a collection in which the most innovative products and modern icons come together to create genuine and inviting living spaces throughout the home. It is a framework for blending the new and the old, the classic and the contemporary. WHAT’S THE KEY TO MAINTAINING THE VERSATILITY OF THE BRAND? I would pin it down to the brand’s pioneering attitude, its commitment to research and innovation, its production process that merges technological skill with traditional craftsmanship and, most of all, collaborations with architects and designers, some of the most creative minds in the world, to imagine and create new collections. CASSINA’S COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION, ITS CONSCIOUS APPROACH TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND UNIQUE DESIGN PHILOSOPHY BRIDGES TRADITION AND MODERNITY. WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT? Cassina is a brand that is proudly rooted in the design culture of Italy. It is one of the few exceptional brands that has been designing the future of interiors for almost 100 years. Innovation, experimentation, authenticity, excellence, technology, and outstanding craftsmanship are at the core of the brand’s DNA. Th ese values were fostered and solidifi ed over time. Even the move to conscious production took years of work and focus to implement. Cassina is what it is because it marries the past with the present and future. Th e focus has and will always be about timeless creations that are functional yet elegant forms of art. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN FUTURE? Cassina’s commitment to innovation is evident in its plans for expansion, extending the outdoor collection, broadening the selection of lighting, and introducing new designers to the iMaestri collection, showcased earlier this year at Milan Design Week. Th e brand is engaging in collaborative ventures with designers and expanding presence through more monobrand stores across the world. Cassina LAB is also actively advancing research to establish more sustainable products. As Vivium, we are dedicated to expanding the brand’s presence and fostering meaningful connections in the UAE. cassina.com Armchair by Patricia Urquiola The Soriana limited-edition denim armchair by Afra and Tobia Scarpa. Photo by Paola Pansini Esosoft sofa by Antonio Citterio. Photo by Luca Merli The Volage night collection by Philippe Starck HBI_059_54-61_Design Focus_13093586.indd 6105/12/2023 11:10Unafraid of pushing the boundaries, Pallavi roars through her designs which are enriched with custom solutions. Outfi t, Pallavi’s own HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6205/12/2023 11:11Women-led design firm Roar tailors spaces to fit clients’ personalities. Founder Pallavi Dean explains why design is so much more than just aesthetics A STARCHITECT’S STUDIO Words by MELANIE HUNT Photography by EFRAIM EVIDOR Styling by CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS The FEATURES 63 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture/Interiors Winter 2023 HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6305/12/2023 11:11“Characteristics of human behaviour is what inspires how we design spaces” Pa l l a v i D e a n Textural juxtaposition sparks visual interest in the design elements. Dress and shoes, Pallavi’s own HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6405/12/2023 11:12 The FEATURES 65 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture/Interiors Winter 2023 Pallavi Dean, founder of Dubai-based architecture and design studio Roar (a name which refl ects Helen Reddy’s song lyric, ‘I am woman, hear me roar’), already has a string of accolades and awards to her name, which include CID Middle East Boutique Design Firm of the Year and Global Emerging Designer of the Year at the Frame Awards in Amsterdam. At home and abroad, the studio has created spaces for clients at the very pinnacle of UAE society, as well as business. A homegrown talent, Pallavi was in the UAE at an early age and is an alumna of the American University of Sharjah (AUS) College of Architecture, Art and Design, where she was awarded a scholarship that supported and nurtured her extraordinary talent. Th e @designbyroar Instagram page is a rolodex of clever and beautiful spaces, which chronicle how the designer’s work is innovatively interpreting a sense of place to create trailblazing designs and exciting new aesthetics. Roar has recently expanded into bigger offi ces at the Alserkal Avenue district of Al Quoz, Dubai. Th e new studio environment is a testament to Pallavi’s thinking that a good designer is also a bit of a sociologist and psychologist, necessarily observing to understand how people move, work and use spaces – which goes beyond the basic human needs of access to natural light and touchpoints with biophilic elements. “What is your archetype? Are you an introvert, are you an extrovert? Are you an ambivert? Are you a recluse? Drilling down to really understand those characteristics of human behaviour is what inspires how we design spaces,” explains Pallavi. “For example, an open-plan workspace is where extroverts thrive, but for me, I’m a little bit of an introvert and I need deep workspaces. I need spaces where I can create a defensible space, where I can feel psychologically safe to freely do my best work.” Roar’s headquarters in Alserkal Avenue combine warm and cool organic tones for a harmonious balance HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6505/12/2023 11:12 The FEATURES 66 HarpersBazaarArabia.com/Culture/Interiors Winter 2023 Above: The studio utilises every surface for a unique feature, bringing illumination and depth to the space Roar’s inception was a response to Pallavi’s desire to work across multi-sector projects, instead of catering to only one niche, and its book includes schools, offi ces, hotels, private residences, as well as retail and food and beverage establishments. “I learned so much from residential design that I would like to bring it to my offi ces,” she refl ects. “I learned so much from offi ce design that I like to take that into a school. Learning by diff usion and cross-pollination is my sweet spot. I hate being kind of typecast into a box.” Th e tagline of Roar is ‘50 per cent wild and 50 per cent tame’, which Pallavi says is half “creative, artistic, crazy aesthetic fl air that we bring to a project – but half is evidence-based design. What is the return on investment? What is the footfall? How’s your presenteeism after we’ve designed an offi ce space? So we track these metrics, and we design to these metrics. And that’s why our design is very evidence-based.” Roar’s employees are predominantly female, which Pallavi says was very intentional as her whole approach to design is empathy-based, and she saw that being refl ected in how other women also tend to work. Really listening to the client, putting ‘architect ego’ aside, leads to understanding what clients need which translates into design-led solutions that nurture and fi t. A perfect example is a nursery design for which the studio incorporated projection technology that synced individual children’s arrival at the nursery with their parents, to coincide with an image of their artwork from the previous day. “So they’ve done this drawing and we printed it on a bird and it used to fl y across the lobby,” explains Pallavi. “Th at crying at drop-off and separation anxiety just fell away because when they came into the space, they were like, ‘look, I did this’ and the conversation changed. It’s little things like this, that’s why I love what I do.” It’s obvious that what makes Pallavi a starchitect isn’t just her design prowess – it’s hugely her ability to connect with clients and a genuine desire to make a diff erence. “It sounds cliché, but you can make an impact in everyday lives by putting a smile on someone’s face. Th ose little wins are really important.” designbyroar.com The FEATURES HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6605/12/2023 11:12 The FEATURES Pallavi in her Dubai studio. Dress, shoes and jewellery, Pallavi’s own “Learning by diff usion and cross-pollination is my sweet spot” Pa l l a v i D e a n HBI_059_62-67_FEATURES_Pallavi_13086441.indd 6705/12/2023 11:12IMAGES COUR TESY OF AHS GROUP AND EFRAIM EVIDOR HBI_059_68-71_Features_ Abbas Sajwani_13107050.indd 6805/12/2023 11:14TR A N S C E N DI N G TR A D ITION As Dubai witnesses a boom in uber-luxury real estate investments, Abbas Sajwani reveals his vision for the future Casa Canal by AHS Properties is a lavish waterfront development in Dubai Water Canal, off ering iridescent views and spectacular amenities Words by ODELIA MATHEWS The FEATURES HBI_059_68-71_Features_ Abbas Sajwani_13107050.indd 6905/12/2023 11:14Next >