Abwab, meaning ‘doors’ in Arabic, is a programme that commissions pavilions that are thematically remodelled each year to reflect timely global and regional contexts. The commissions will be presented at Dubai Design Week, 4 – 9 November 2025.
This year’s theme, ‘In the Details’, invites designers, architects, researchers, archivists and all creative practitioners from across West, South and East Asia, as well as the African continent to explore ornamental details - drawing from architectural research, textiles, applied surfaces and narrative-driven aesthetics. ‘In the Details’ is a call for cultural excavation, spotlighting ornamentation’s enduring relationship to history, heritage and identity.
Proposals are invited to explore ornament as a primary language that transforms detail into immersive spatial experiences. Participants are encouraged to engage historical forms, motifs and textures through design. This could involve isolating, exaggerating, amplifying, shifting scale or applying fragmented details into unexpected spatial applications. Abwab seeks works that engage with symbolic detail in concept and scale the intimate into the monumental.
The applicant must be available for virtual calls with the Dubai Design Week team and must be present in Dubai to oversee the production and installation of the proposal.
A production bursary of 180,000 AED will support the execution of successful proposals, including project development, production and installation.
