Dubai Design Week 2025 is back in Dubai Design District (d3) from 4–9 November 2025, under the patronage of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture. It marks the 11th edition of the festival and the debut of the d3 Awards, a regional prize created to champion emerging design talent from across the Middle East and North Africa.
For a week, the pedestrian streets of d3 are filled with pavilions, large-scale installations, talks, pop-up galleries and open studios. Architects, product designers, fashion labels and UX creatives share the same postcode, turning the district into a live snapshot of what design from the region looks like right now.
What is Dubai Design Week 2025?
Dubai Design Week is the region’s largest design festival, organised in partnership with Dubai Design District and Dubai Culture. The 2025 edition continues its mix of:
Outdoor installations responding to themes like climate, materials and public space
Exhibitions covering architecture, graphic design, interiors and furniture
Downtown Design, the commercial fair that brings global and regional brands together
Talks and workshops featuring designers, curators and educators from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, wider MENA and international design capitals
Everything is walkable: visitors move between exhibitions, showrooms and cafés, often meeting the designers behind the work on site.
The launch of the d3 Awards: spotlight on emerging MENA talent
A major new feature in 2025 is the inaugural d3 Awards. The award is designed specifically to highlight emerging designers from the MENA region, offering both visibility and practical support.
Key facts about the d3 Awards 2025:
Open to early-stage designers and studios based in or originally from MENA
Assessed on innovation, relevance to the region, and social or environmental impact
The winner receives a cash prize of AED 100,000, mentorship from an industry leader and the chance to exhibit during Dubai Design Week.
For its first edition, the d3 Awards attracted over 85 submissions from designers working across architecture, product, furniture and social design.
The winner, Nigerian-born, UAE-based designer Ohireme Uanzekin, was recognised for “Abora – The Urban Earthscape”, a project that explores how sustainable materials and landscape-inspired forms can soften dense city environments. His installation, shown in the d3 Architecture Exhibition during the festival, uses textured surfaces and earthy tones to imagine calmer urban spaces in fast-growing Gulf cities.
Installations, architecture and product design: a walk through d3
Across the district, visitors encounter:
Large-scale public installations that double as meeting points and selfie backdrops, created by regional studios and design schools. Many works focus on reusing materials, shade structures and cooling strategies suitable for the Gulf climate.
Architecture and urbanism exhibitions documenting how cities like Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah are experimenting with new cultural districts, waterfronts and mobility systems.
Product and furniture design from MENA designers who work with stone, glass, metal and textiles sourced in the region, alongside 3D-printed and tech-driven pieces.
Fashion plays a quiet but important role. Several local labels show capsule collections that sit between fashion and art – sculptural abayas, modular accessories, and gender-fluid tailoring styled for the region’s climate.
d3 Awards finalists: the next wave of Arab designers
Beyond the winner, the d3 Awards finalists form a snapshot of where MENA design is heading. While each project is different, several themes run through the shortlist:
Adaptive reuse and heritage – designers reinterpreting traditional patterns, calligraphy or crafts in contemporary objects and facades.
Material innovation – experiments with desert sand, recycled aluminium, bio-based composites and locally sourced stone.
Community spaces – proposals for pocket parks, shaded walkways and neighbourhood furniture that encourage people to spend more time outdoors.
For young studios from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and beyond, reaching the d3 Awards shortlist means presenting work to an international audience of curators, brands and buyers visiting Dubai for the week.
Why d3 matters: Dubai’s growing creative district
Dubai Design District (d3) has, in a decade, evolved into one of the Gulf’s densest clusters of creative businesses. The area houses architecture practices, global fashion brands, design galleries, media companies and startups, alongside cafés and event venues.
Events like Dubai Design Week 2025 d3 Awards reinforce that role:
They give regional designers a home base to show work without having to relocate to Europe or North America.
They attract international visitors who may be familiar with Milan Design Week or London Design Festival but are now adding Dubai to their annual circuit.
They plug design into the city’s broader innovation and tourism strategy, aligning with Dubai’s push to position itself as a global creative and business hub.
The result is a district that feels increasingly comparable—by function, if not by style—to established creative neighbourhoods in other world cities, while keeping a distinctly Gulf character.
Why it matters for Niche readers
For Niche’s readers , Dubai Design Week 2025 d3 Awards is more than a trade event. It’s:
A chance to discover new MENA designers before they land in major international galleries or brand collaborations.
A barometer of how architecture, interiors, fashion and product design in the region are responding to climate, culture and rapid urban change.
A real-world example of how cities in the Middle East are investing in creative ecosystems—spaces where design, business and lifestyle naturally overlap.
If you’re planning a design-focused trip to the region in November 2025, a day (or several) wandering through d3 during Dubai Design Week should be high on your list.
