Dubai Design Week’s 12th edition celebrates bold Middle Eastern design 

From an eye-catching exhibition spotlighting geometric forms to installations designed by prominent architects, Dubai Design Week is set to host its 12th edition to honour the Middle East’s vibrant design, craft and culture.

The programme takes place across Dubai Design District (d3), the city’s creative hub, from 3 to 8 November 2026. 

The festival’s headline event is Downtown Design, an annual fair that spotlights regional and global design brands, makers and manufacturers. 

Dezeen readers can get 50 per cent off their tickets using the code DESIGN50.

Taking place from 4 to 8 November,  Downtown Design presents site-specific installations, talks and networking series and exhibitions for furniture, textiles, lighting and kitchen and bathroom products.

This year, British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori has added his creative touch to Veuve Clicquot‘s annual lounge at the fair, which will serve as a place to relax, as well as a venue to host talks and parties.

Italian design brand Memphis Milano will also unveil an exhibition that honours the bright colours and geometric forms utilised by the group’s founder Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s, known as the Memphis movement.

Also returning to the 2026 edition is the UAE Designer Exhibition – a platform for emerging talent in the emirate within a B2B and B2C environment, creating a space for future mentorship. 

Under the theme Inherited Futures, the exhibition features 30 UAE-based designers’ works, which will focus on materiality, form and technology.

With architect AlZaina Lootah as design collaborator, the exhibition tasks contributors to design products that are producible, durable, high-quality and referential to cultural contexts.

Alongside the fair, Dubai Design Week will also exhibit installations across the district, created by global architecture practices Nikken Sekkei, Sobokuya, Aestudio, Alter, Palm and Palazzo, design firm Dubai Duette Studio, architect Rasha Saffarini, cultural platform Avid Learning Middle East and craft group Dakhnii Diaries.

Programme highlights also include the annual Urban Commission competition, which will showcase the winning proposal by Dubai-based studio Nao Architects.

Titled Three Gardens and a Room, Nao Architects’ installation responds to the competition’s theme Atmospheres, which asked participants to consider “how light, temperature, sound, material and spatial design shape how we feel, move and connect”.

On display for the duration of the design week, the installation by the practice’s founder Reem Nassour reconsiders a garden with four key architectural elements – a roof, mound, hearth and enclosure – in the form of three gardens connected by a central room.

Abwab, Dubai Design Week’s flagship commissioning programme, presents In Other Words, a group exhibition open from 3 to 8 November.

The exhibition presents commissioned works by five selected practices from West, South, Southeast and East Asia, and Africa.

Its overarching theme explores communication beyond speech and writing, addressing symbols and gestures used throughout history.

Other exhibitions curated for the 2026 edition include the Worlds Ahead: 25 Years of Design, Place and Impact in the Middle East exhibition by architecture studio Woods Bagot, and the showcase by Paris’ L’école School of Jewellery Arts, which is supported by jewellery brand Van Cleef and Arpels.

Dubai Design Week’s Marketplace also returns for the latest iteration from 7 to 8 November, serving as a platform for independent makers across the Middle East.

The platform enables artisans to sell their handmade pieces, from fashion and jewellery to homeware and food, and offers a series of live performances and culinary experiences.

The festival is held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture).

Register for Downtown Design tickets here. Dezeen readers can get 50 per cent off their tickets using the code DESIGN50.

Photos are courtesy of Dubai Design Week.

Read more

• Promotions