The Middle East’s only quality-driven design trade fair is set to return for its fourth edition during Dubai Design Week this October.
Bringing together over 100 brands from 25 countries, the event has become an important fixture in the design calendar for both international brands and buyers from the MENASA region.
Held at the Dubai Design District (d3), the creative hub of the city, Downtown Design provides design buyers and influencers with a curated selection of innovative contemporary design from established and emerging brands.
Since its establishment in 2013 as a forum for international design, Downtown Design has grown to become the most influential commercial design event in the MENASA region and a key fixture on the global design calendar.Rue Kothari joined Downtown Design as director in 2015, overseeing the fair’s exponential growth both in scope of brands presented and number of number of visitors that attended.
“Downtown Design brings together the regional design community, to discover new brands, rekindle existing relationship and build new ones, as well as providing a platform to share ideas and get an overview of how the market is developing, and the opportunities that presents. As the inaugural year of Dubai Design Week, 2015 was a big year for us, and we continue to develop the concept in 2016. A large number of our exhibitors re-signed from last year and, like us, are fully invested in presenting a fresh concept for Downtown, including products which will make their world debut here in Dubai,” says Rue.
A key goal of Downtown Design is to promote local talent. For 2016, local architect Tarik Al Zaharna of T.Zed Architects has been commissioned to reimagine the visitor experience around the theme of nature; incorporating natural materials in the design of the common areas. Taking a wider scope, the fair also hosts Design Weeks from around the world; each of which bring a co-curated presentation of three emerging design brands that offer visitors the chance to discover products they would not ordinarily encounter at the big shows. The initiative, entitled ‘Destinations’ this year brings Addis Ababa, Barcelona, Beirut, Reykjavik and Taiwan Design Weeks to Dubai.
Each day of the fair will feature a series of industry talks and panel discussions, showcasing the young and flourishing design industry of Dubai and its surrounding region. A developing buyers programme that now activates the wider region further broadens Downtown Design’s status as a place to do business.
(Hero image courtesy: Herald Herrera)
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