< PreviousCover feature commercialinteriordesign.com December 2020 20 Caption Here CoCoCoCoCoCoveveveveverrr rrr fefefefefeeatatatatatururururuurureeeee comcomcomcomcomomomomomomomomomomomomomcomomomcmermermermermermermermermermermermermermermmmmereememermermerrmerm ciaciaciaciacciaciaciaciaciaciaciaciacciaciacci lilinlinlilllinlinlinlinliinttttertereriorioriordededessssssssssignignnignignignigngnnngnngnnnnn.co.cocococo.co.coco.co.cococo.co.cococccocoococcococ mmmmmmmmmmmmmm DecDecDecDecDecDecDecDececDecDecDDDecDD embembembembembembembembembembmbemembmmmem er er er er rer r er rr 20220220220220220220220220220202202202202202202020220200000000000 20202020202020 CapCapCapCapCapCapCapCapCapCapCapapapptiotiotiootiotiotiiot oot n Hn Hn Hn Hn HnHn HHereereereerereereereereereereereereereereereereer Met te Degn- Christensen, director Dubai Design Week, looks ahead to next year's event LEADING THE WAYCover feature 21 December 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com ell us how the 2020 edition of DXBDW differed from others This year has been a different one for every industry, every discipline and every company, let alone for us as people, across the world. Dubai Design Week has always acted as a platform for the region's creative talent, however this year it was apparent to us that we would need to change focus points and address the current environment within the thematics that we call for the creative community and partners to address through their activities staged under our programme, and the need for shedding light on the great talent that exists and arises in and from the region. The annually remodelled highlight of the week, Abwab shifted from a curated experience to an open call for the region's creatives to propose a large-scale, centrepiece pavilion set at the heart of Dubai Design District (d3) and the new UAE Designer Exhibition featured works of over 20 of the local creative sector's most relevant creatives leading the discourse of innovation and development today. The inaugural MENA Grad Show showcased 50 of the best social impact innovation projects from the region, in the fi elds of technology, science and design, and with both virtual and onsite activations, Downtown Design evolved its programme to help the design industry reconnect meaningfully, presenting post-pandemic design solutions by over 25 of the region's architects and interior designers in the multimedia exhibition 'The Shape of Things to Come,' which spotlighted the forward-thinking of the design industry in the Middle East alongside a new digital fair showcasing latest collections from over 150 brands across the world. The talks programmes all went digital this year, and are still accessible online. The Dubai Design Week Marketplace, a new outdoor retail initiative that hosted more than 70 of Dubai's best artisans, entrepreneurs, small businesses and food scene, with the support of Dubai Culture who provided grants for small businesses to take part, provided visitors with a unique retail experience whilst supporting local businesses. And the Urban Commissions 2020, supported by A.R.M. Holding, called upon designers to design an innovative outdoor retail kiosk, which was awarded to Emirati and Saudi architects Reema Almheiri and Lujain Alatiq, for their proposal 'Basta'. What were the biggest challenges of making it happen? There are many challenges in staging a festival of this scale, every year – this year, I think the main challenge was that the world paused when the pandemic fi rst hit, and there were so many unknown factors; from other events being cancelled that brands and designers were planning their year around, semesters missed out and budgets for activities being on hold as well production, supply chains, shipping and of course travel being set back meaning that planning ahead was a very different process than usual. It took a lot of patience, ideation and planning for scenarios a, b and c, throughout the year – and of course wonderful partners and participants that were persistent in fi nding creative solutions and ensure that we could proceed within the parameters that we would be met with in November. How did the changes affect the input from creatives? Responding to our 2020 theme of addressing the way we will live in the near and far future, there were absolutely great dialogues with the creatives, partners and participants, to shed light on the local creative scene and on the role of the creative industries in designing our ways forward. The community really came together which also reaffi rms the importance of the festival taking place, and we are very thankful to all designers and creatives who participated in making this year's edition such a meaningful experience for everyone. What features will visitors have noticed? Besides most of the outdoor installations actively addressing physical distancing in our urban environment, visitors would have noticed sanitisation stations throughout the festival, as well as contactless temperature checks at designated entry points to indoor activations, adhering to rules and regulations laid out by government authorities, including Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Municipality – and that we have gone paperless; no distribution of programme fl yers or visitor maps on site, this was all run through the Dubai Design Week app that also allowed visitors to register their preferred visiting time and dates in advance to help us monitor visitor numbers and recommend hours of lower footfall, if required. Was there a point in the past year when you thought the event might not happen? When we as Art Dubai Group saw the necessity to cancel the Art Dubai fair in March 2020, we as a company had fi rst- hand experience with the diffi culties and of course monitored the situation closely from thereon. I think it is important to emphasise that we at no point simply assumed that we would just be able to proceed as normal, but in close collaboration with our lead strategic partner and home to the festival, d3, we assessed the elements that would need to take a different shape this year in order to stage the physical festival, alongside The community really came together, which reaffi rms the importance of the festival taking place… TCover feature commercialinteriordesign.com December 2020 22 bringing new initiatives in support of the local community as well as new online elements to the programme. What was the design community's reaction to the event taking place? The feedback we had from our visitors was some of the best we have had to date and likewise we have had tremendous feedback, cheering on and support from the creative community, and we look forward to continuing the dialogues and bringing their perspectives into the planning of Dubai Design Week 2021. What can we expect next year's edition to look like? That is a big question these days. Next year the festival will coincide with Expo 2020 Dubai, so you can expect another special edition, however certainly with great creative input from the talent in the region. Any practises from this year do you think will carry over to 2021? I think that the need for planning and ensuring meaningful experiences has very much been emphasised this past year, plus the enhanced focus on the local creatives, individual designers and small businesses to support and sustain the creative landscape here is extremely important. We will indeed take everything we learned over the past year in and make it part of our planning for 2021. When the world returns to 'normal' will Dubai Design Week revert back too? As a society and certainly a creative community, we strive to fi nd solutions to move forward and to improve, hence going back to 'how things were' would mean that what we learned and found along the diffi cult path that 2020 has been, would not be put to its best use. For instance, the hybrid programmes; we strongly believe that there is and will always be a need for people to come together in physical events, that experiences and exhibitions cannot only exist digitally, but the internet and the digital sphere has been around for some time, the pandemic forced us to use it in ways it was not yet accustomed to. 2020's legacy Iraqi designer Hozan Zangana's Abwab 2020 commission 'Fata Morgana', pictured left, is still standing in Dubai Design District (d3), alongside 'The Leader' by Kart Group and 'Pardis' installation by Meshary AlNassar for Cosentino, which was built to stay for six months. Anything that you would do differently? There are no two editions alike, and responding to the changing climate is always a necessity - there can always things that you realise after the event could have been done differently, which tend to be logistical elements and we make a note of for improvement in the following editions – and of course the annual rain shower; we will try but I cannot promise we can do much about that – but the team worked tirelessly throughout the year to make the event possible, and I would rather like to focus on congratulating for the hard work coming together and for staging one of the fi rst major events since the pandemic. UAE Minister of Culture and Youth, Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi tries out Please Sit Here with artist Khalid ShafarCover feature 23 December 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com Inside Colab Creativity and collaboration Richard Wilson, creative director of Colab, shares insight into Dubai Design Week, as well as inspiration behind the fi rm's installation RE:TREAT. By Krisanne Gonsalves How did the new hybrid format of Dubai Design Week work for Colab? Adhering to the strict COVID-19 guidelines and with all safety measures in place, Colab was able to host several networking evenings during Dubai Design Week and over 15 talks and presentations, offering design and build fi rms an opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise. What was the vision behind Colab's Dubai Design Week Installation RE:TREAT? RE:TREAT was an outdoor installation that aimed to showcase the potential of reusing discarded or waste materials, and giving them a second life; to create a playful, public seating structure at our entrance. Taking the lead from Broadway Interiors' original concept design, Colab upcycled construction grade aluminum scaffolding to create the structural framework for RE:TREAT. Fibracolour was given a second life after being showcased at Dubai Design Week 2019 for the UMBRA installation by Tinkah. The product used is a harmless, fully pigmented MDF board created by FINSA. By reusing the salvaged boards, the project represents a step towards a more sustainable world and helps reinforce the concept of upcycling. The installation was built by Green Curve with lighting provided by Solas Power Solutions and with MAS Paints supplying a combination of new and recycled paint for the project. Desireign collected trimmings and excess moss from their recent green wall projects to create a 100 percent sustainable 'green ceiling' that requires zero maintenance. Banned in the UAE on account of that they are easily lost at sea; they tend to trap sea mammals; and do not disintegrate very easily, Colab also recycled elements from encircling nets to add some support and stability to the framework of the installation. How has Colab coped over the challenging year so far? Prior to the global pandemic, Colab hosted regular 'lunch and learn' sessions, seminars and networking evenings, as part of their mission to help expand the material palette that specifi ers work. In response to the lockdown, Colab launched the SHARE campaign, which aimed to leverage COVID-19 necessitated distancing to stimulate ideas for students in creative fi elds. Curating free, weekly webinars inviting leaders from the industry to share their knowledge and real-world experience with students. With restrictions being slowly lifted in the UAE, Colab has once again begun to organise physical activities albeit on a smaller scale but with the same objectives in mind. We have withstood the challenges posed by the pandemic on account of tremendous support from the industry. Any updates on the Colab Student Competition? The Colab Student Competition attracted over 100 fi nal year design undergraduates from 11 universities across the UAE. The fi nalists will now be mentored by Chris Barnes, of Broadway Interiors, Kevin McLachlan, NomadK, and Paul Bishop of Bishop Design for the fi nal phase of the competition as the students aim to further develop and refi ne their design. They're due to present their fi nal design concepts at Colab in December, with the overall winner being decided thereafter. What does Colab have coming up in 2021? The most exciting development for Colab is the implementation of the winning design from the Student Design Competition and unveiling their new look. Embracing the digital age, Colab is also planning to launch a digital materials library, which will serve as a platform to make it easier for designers and contractors to source materials that are currently not widely available in the region. Richard WilsonCover feature commercialinteriordesign.com December 2020 24 HOW IT HAPPENED: DOWNTOWN DESIGN 2020 Unlike other design fairs that either cancelled, or went purely digital for the year, Downtown Design responded to the unique challenges faced by the design industry with series of onsite and virtual activations, continuing to connect creativity with commercial opportunity in the region and beyond, and just as importantly, offering the regional design industry players a focal point to reconnect, inspire and be inspired. Reflecting Dubai's position as the design capital of the Middle East and a gateway to Asia and Africa, Downtown Design is much more than a typical design fair; over the years, this key event of Dubai Design Week has served as a platform for knowledge exchange, bringing diverse talents and opinions together on one stage. The event was already contemplating its next stage of growth when the pandemic struck. "Since we went into lockdown, we conducted a series of focus groups with architects, interior designers and industry experts in the region, and much as the industry was adapting to the digital interface, we found there was a unanimous desire to come together as a community," says Pratyush Sarup, head of programming at Downtown Design. On the other hand, brands too were looking to present their new collections to the region in a meaningful manner. The new digital fair was developed in response to the brands wanting to sustain the nurture their connections with the region. "Over the months we studied a wide range Designer Marc Ange presented the latest iteration of 'Le Refuge' collection, the library The success of Downtown Design's adaptive format refl ects the resilience and agility of the annual event, as well as that of the regional design industryCover feature 25 December 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com of virtual showcases to understand what worked and what didn't. "Ultimately, we delved into the DNA of Downtown Design, presenting our pillars of quality and curation, connectivity with the industry players and industry insight in a practical manner." As a result, the Digital Fair offered straight-forward access to the latest in contemporary design, free to access for everybody; digital visitors can explore the latest collections, gain insights on new products, save product references for their presentations, BOQs etc and connect directly with the brands in real time to request more information. The Downtown Design 2020 Digital Fair presented more than 150 leading design brands from around the world, including 27 regional exhibitors and designers, offering both design professionals as well Preciosa unveiled new collection, Fractal, designed by Thomas FeichtnerCover feature commercialinteriordesign.com December 2020 26 HOW IT HAPPENED: DOWNTOWN DESIGN 2020 Bene revealed the Ports collection designed by PearsonLloyd as enthusiasts an opportunity to connect with the latest collections, new trends and values that are currently guiding contemporary design. The digital fair was supported by a series of virtual panel discussions focused on outlining the emerging values that will guide the design industry in the future. "With the tremendously positive feedback and industry adoption, Downtown Design's digital fair is live and will continue to serve as an industry tools in the months to come," says Sarup, adding that plans for a 2021 physical fair are afoot. Together, the physical and virtual elements of Downtown Design's 2020 programme offer a now-proven blueprint for the next phases of growth and diversifi cation for the region's beloved design fair. We delved into the DNA of Downtown Design... Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge DevelopmentCover feature 27 December 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com Complementing the digital activations, Downtown Design presented on-site exhibition 'The Shape of Things to Come' that invited the region's architects and interior designers to present design response to the issues that the pandemic brought to light and further exasperated. From an open call, the exhibition presented 31 conceptual and exploratory work from 27 of the region's leading design practices – from the UAE, KSA, Lebanon and Kuwait. These included innovative urban interventions that could reinvigorate neglected neighbourhoods and the future of travel, to adaptive homes of tomorrow, AI enabled paving systems that will allow for safe distancing and new products that exalt in positively contributing to local economies and craft communities, the exhibition presented a broad range of forward-sighted design thinking from the Middle East. "With 'The Shape of Things to Come', we wanted to spotlight the original voices that make up our cosmopolitan design community. The solutions they present are rooted in our unique context and locality, effectively dismantling outdated stereotypes of the Middle East being an echo chamber of trends from the West," says Sarup, who curated the exhibition. "We are happy to report that some projects have already received serious interest from investors to be developed further. Watch this space!" UAE- and Jordan-based Kawn created the playful 'Slinky' chairs THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COMECID Awards 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com December 2020 28CID Awards 2020 29 December 2020 commercialinteriordesign.com IN THE SPOTLIGHT Meet the winners of the Commercial Interior Design Awards 2020 in our glit tering gallery of snaps from the first- ever socially- distant ceremonyNext >