The much anticipated 2016 edition of Dubai Design Week ended on Saturday 29 October, after six days of quality happenings that brought the city to the international stage for design. Host of the 2020 Expo, Dubai is capable of organizing unique events that drag the attention of anyone, from professionals to the general public. The “living” proof of such was the light installation, by two local design studios, that each day of the festival, for 30 minutes, animated the famous Burj Khalifa with fluid designs, from bubbles to neo-cubist shapes, to magical images inspired to the nature and the world. Once again, Dubai Design Week proved to be both a very international event and the place where to discover the unique design from Middle East.

On the one hand, people had the chance to enjoy the best international design production at the much awaited Downtown Design Fair; on the other, the public learnt about the best Middle East design pieces thanks to many on-topic events such as the day dedicated to national and Islamic design. Many galleries all over Dubai participated in the Dubai Design Week by offering attendees the opportunity to both discover and buy local design: the Tashkeel Gallery, for instance, arranged an exhibition of limited edition design items - creating sort of a retrospective of the many styles of the region - that were also on sale. The festival also focused on emerging talents with the unprecedented Global Grad Show, where students and graduates from all over the world – 30 countries from any continent – showcased their projects, promoting new ideas and styles. With such an immersive program, dedicated to each branch of design, the 2016 edition of Dubai Design Week proved to be the highlight of the Middle East design panorama.

INFO: www.dubaidesignweek.ae

PHOTO COURTESY: Dubai Design Week