Designwhere and desertscapes mark 10 years of Isola at Dubai Design Week 2026

The third decade of the 21st century so far seems to be one of heightened consciousness in design. Consciousness of its historic evolution, its influence on human lifestyles and its impact on planetary ecologies. Contemporary discourse worldwide is increasingly probing how material choices and craft techniques shape design’s influence on society and culture. Reflecting similar themes across its programme, Dubai Design Week returned for its 12th edition from November 3 – 8, 2026.  As an important platform for voicing the perspective of the Global South, especially the SWANA region, the event's overarching focus was rooted in design’s role in reinforcing human connections and shaping context, heritage and culture. Within the design week, Milan- and Dubai-based Isola Design Group (Isola), as a venture to promote and strengthen innovation and evolution of the design community, platformed ideas that demonstrated design consciousness across different mediums and scales.

Following a landmark showcase in 2025 that left an indelible impression on the city with the launch of Isola Space—a dedicated hub that fosters exchange between local and international designers—the creative group returned for its fifth edition to the widely awaited design festival. The programme this year—cited by the group as ‘its biggest edition yet’—comprised special commissions, immersive experiences and exhibitions across three major destinations of the city: Marasi Bay, Dubai Design District and Downtown Design Fair. The highlight, however, remained the launch of Designwhere, a digital platform by Isola to explore and engage with design hotspots across a city, including designers, galleries, studios and creative spaces, aiming to raise awareness and make design more accessible.

With Dubai as its inaugural city, Designwhere saw its physical manifestation in Downtown Design. For the launch, the space presented a multidisciplinary showcase of furniture, lighting and object designs as a sample of the platform’s offerings. Anantaya and AKFD Studio’s portfolio included the bespoke Yeti Vase inspired by the mythical protector of Mount Kailash; a reinterpretation of Jaipur’s blue pottery as the Nili Chini chandelier and the Odhni Phulkari Drape Light, which transitions between a luminescent installation and a vibrant fabric, among other objects. Studio Karmeh’s eponymous collection channelled the cultural memory of its neighbouring regions through geometric forms carved through natural materials.

Marasi Bay served as the central hub of the design exhibits presented by Isola. After a successful launch last year, Isola Space returned for its second edition to The Lana Promenade with No Ordinary Things, an extensive showcase that transcends function to focus on material, process and artistic vision in design. Co-curated by Fatma Al Mahmoud, senior programs manager at Museum of the Future Dubai, the displays featured market-ready furniture design, collectible objects and functional pieces. From Berlin, artist and designer Anja Rohner brought Steady State, a bespoke ashtray that carries the essence of fire across its material palette, with a delicate structural expression. Jumana Motiwala arrived from Mumbai with Rooh, an oil diffuser animated with motifs from the High Court of Chandigarh and traditional Indian ornamentation. Eindhoven- and Milan-based multidisciplinary studio Tellurico emulated a design studio setting with The Shape of Time, which instilled the reverence and impression of time on objects shown across the venue space. From Dubai, Studio Curio’s Common Grounds coffee table, composed of numerous similar yet distinct hand-painted tiles, was offset by the sharp pleats of its high-gloss oxblood lacquer base. Ranim Halaky’s collection of blown-glass objects titled I Held Your Voice in Glass embodied the breaths and silences of archived voices, while Sara Ahli’s Imprinted Vessels translated physical embrace into functional forms.

Elsewhere in Lana’s ultra-luxury development, Isola expanded its collaborations showcased at the Milan Design Week 2026 with Worlds Unseen. The exhibition design included stones hanging from the ceiling, while large boulders dotted the sand-laden floor. The displayed artefacts were positioned as discoveries suspended between natural and futuristic expressions. From the region of Dubai and its surrounds, Studio Aikina presented Boilers to rekindle the value in discarded materials and craftsmanship by blending hand-worked copper forms with recycled blown glass. Iman Ibrahim & Andrea Lonhardt transformed movement and patterns of wind across the desert into a biomimetic lighting design. Shehrbano Salahuddin’s Chaadar No. 15 from Lahore reinterpreted the traditional charpai woven bed in steel, brass and copper, while Michal Korchowiec’s vibrant light sculptures from Poland attempted to infuse a sense of joy in their surroundings through colour and light.

A series of installations along the promenade at The Lana Hotel comprised the Do Not Disturb segment of Isola’s showcase. Milan-based eponymous studio of designer Sara Ricciardi paid homage to 20th-century Italian icon Franca Florio through two pieces of floral seating designs, Donna Franca and Liberty. With An Open Circle, Seoul-based designers WKND Lab bridged tradition and contemporary with roped screen designs and furniture with fluid silhouettes. Tellurico expanded on its showcase with Memento Naturae and Contemporary Design Factory, transcribing geological processes and the labour of craftsmanship into collectible design.

To strengthen connections between natural and artificial, Landscape of Objects – Design for Better Living was set up at the Dubai Design District, repositioning design as the medium of emulating nature as opposed to countering it. Inner Desert by Lithuanian-born designer Ieva Balciunaite-Joseph formed a collection of three scaled-up buttons that housed the UAE’s desert biodiversity into a visual spectacle and a physical archive with deep metaphorical connotations. Iraqi artist Rand Alkishtaini’s Murjana collection translated historic Hijazi architecture of Saudi Arabia into a traditional storage box made of Manquabi stone. Studio Gerald Jason Cruz repurposed the region’s date-palm waste into a sturdy modular stool design, while London-based Nunu Chu’s Lulu lamp series added a dash of playful tactile engagement.

A series of site-specific installations further extended the discussion from closed doors into the public realm. With Imprint, a textile installation by Amsterdam-based Yvonne Mak, a visual metaphor for the alarmingly rising climate crisis comes through by recreating the delicate appearance of chiffon curtains gradually faded by sunlight. Serotonin by Sara Ricciardi Studio injected joy through a vibrant colour palette and geometric patterns as a reminder for people’s general well-being. KAOS Studio’s The Bloom explored renewal through stacking and compressing narratives as biophilic papier-mâché sculptures. As geographic neighbours, Pots and Pines collaborated with painter Sayeh Mansor to represent natural landscapes as cylindrical installation structures.

What started in 2017 as a local platform for independent designers and studios to engage with brands, curators, clients and industry professionals in Milan, Isola has evolved into a comprehensive global creative hub. As the platform slowly expanded its network over the years, its evolution was marked by the establishment of the Isola Design community in 2021, the launch of Isola Studio in 2024 as an international consultancy lab, followed by Isola Space in Dubai in 2025, the group’s first physical venue outside Italy. At the cusp of a decade of operations, the group reflects on its journey thus far under the common theme TEN: The Evolving Now that binds its presence across major global design events: Milan Design Week 2026, London Design Festival 2026, Dubai Design Week 2026 and the upcoming Ithra Design Week. With Designwhere, it further deepens its commitment by opening its creative community to the people and expanding the horizon from individuals and communities to entire cities.

With a global network of fresh ideas connected to a strong community of industry experts, patrons and, most importantly, the general public, the once-local platform appears to be well on its way to transforming into a global forum where design is not only represented or advertised, but deliberated and shaped through the voice of its users.