Dubai Design Week opens its 12th edition, bringing designers from 50-plus countries to d3

The 12th edition of Dubai Design Week is under way at Dubai Design District (d3), running from November 3 to 8. According to the Dubai Media Office, it was inaugurated on November 4 by Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. The festival brings together designers, architects and creative practitioners from more than 50 countries, with this year's programme centred on how design can bring people closer.

Outdoor installations: three gardens and a room

This year's Urban Commissions theme is Atmospheres, and the winning proposal is Three Gardens and a Room by Dubai-based NAO Architects, founded by architect Reem Nassour: three interconnected gardens arranged around a shared central space, responding to how light, temperature, sound, material and spatial design shape how people feel and connect. Other outdoor works include CHATAI 2.0, a timber structure by Japan's Nikken Sekkei and Sobokuya; Playing Field, in which Indian practice ALTER turns the board game Ludo into a space for shared play; and a work by Palestinian-Turkish practice ae studio transforming reclaimed concrete rubble into new architectural forms.

Abwab group show and Downtown Design

Another change this year is at Abwab: the long-running commissioning programme for practitioners from Asia and Africa takes the form of a single group exhibition, In Other Words, examining communication beyond speech and writing — from signage and symbols to gestures and oral histories. Running alongside, Downtown Design, the Middle East's leading contemporary design fair, takes place from November 4 to 8, with highlights including a Memphis Milano exhibition; the outdoor Marketplace follows on November 7 and 8, showcasing homegrown makers and independent brands from the UAE and the region.

The cover image is a stock photo from an earlier Dubai Design Week, not a photograph of this year's event.